Truist Financial Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Greif (NYSE:GEF) Stock Price

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 - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from $72.00 to $71.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "hold" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Truist Financial's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.61% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report 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 report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Greif to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.80.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of GEF traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $60.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 188,580. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 2.63 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.88. Greif has a 52-week low of $48.23 and a 52-week high of $73.16.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.12, for a total transaction of $136,240.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 70,678 shares in the company, valued at $4,814,585.36. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kimberly Anne Kellermann sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.88, for a total value of $610,920.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,548 shares in the company, 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 ninety days, insiders sold 64,741 shares of company stock valued at $4,475,752. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GEF. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Greif by 7,222.6% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 233,370 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $14,264,000 after acquiring an additional 230,183 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. bought a new position in Greif during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,052,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Greif by 54.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 366,449 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,015,000 after purchasing an additional 128,880 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Greif during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,473,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in Greif during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,052,000. 45.74% of the stock is currently 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.

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