Greif (NYSE:GEF) Given New $71.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

Key Points

• Truist Financial has lowered its price objective for Greif's stock from $72.00 to $71.00, maintaining a "hold" rating, which implies a potential upside of 16.61% from the current price.
• Other analysts have differing views; while Wells Fargo raised its target to $76.00 with an "overweight" rating, Bank of America cut its target to $71.00 with a "neutral" rating.
• Greif's recent earnings report showed $1.03 EPS, exceeding estimates, but revenue decreased by 2.6% year-over-year, indicating mixed financial performance.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Truist Financial from $72.00 to $71.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Greif to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.80.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of Greif stock traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $61.58. The company had a trading volume of 244,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 226,406. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $65.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.92. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Greif has a 1-year low of $48.23 and a 1-year high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.23 million. Greif had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. Greif's quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Greif will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This is a boost from Greif's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Greif's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.57%.

Insider Activity at Greif

In other Greif news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer sold 1,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total transaction of $68,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,934,631.76. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kimberly Anne Kellermann sold 9,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.88, for a total value of $610,920.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $240,838.24. The trade was a 71.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,741 shares of company stock valued at $4,596,852. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Greif during the first quarter valued at $608,000. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 12.4% during the first quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,504 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,897,000 after acquiring an additional 3,820 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 217.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 20,706 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 14,193 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 4.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 596,557 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,805,000 after acquiring an additional 27,832 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Greif in the first quarter valued at about $1,167,000. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Greif

Greif, Inc engages in the production and sale of industrial packaging products and services worldwide. The company operates through Global Industrial Packaging; Paper Packaging & Services; and Land Management segments. The Global Industrial Packaging segment produces and sells industrial packaging products, including steel, fiber, and plastic drums; rigid and flexible intermediate bulk containers; closure systems for industrial packaging products; transit protection products; water bottles, and remanufactured and reconditioned industrial containers; and various services, such as container life cycle management, filling, logistics, warehousing, and other packaging services to chemicals, paints and pigments, food and beverage, petroleum, industrial coatings, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, mineral product, and other industries.