Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Hold (C) Rating for Greif (NYSE:GEF)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating for Greif (NYSE:GEF) based on their recent research, suggesting a neutral outlook on the stock.
• Recent reports show analysts are split on Greif's stock outlook, with two rating it a Buy, four a Hold, and one a Sell, while the average target price stands at $75.80.
• In the last quarter, Greif posted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.03, exceeding expectations, although revenue decreased by 2.6% compared to the same period last year.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c)" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

GEF has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Greif from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.80.

Greif Price Performance

GEF stock opened at $60.61 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.40. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.00. Greif has a 1 year low of $48.23 and a 1 year high of $73.16. 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 (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $740.23 million. Greif had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Greif will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In other news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.55, for a total transaction of $121,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 66,678 shares in the company, valued at $4,037,352.90. This represents a 2.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Greif by 4.7% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,251,074 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $68,797,000 after acquiring an additional 55,948 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $32,805,000 after acquiring an additional 27,832 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Greif by 54.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 366,449 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,015,000 after acquiring an additional 128,880 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Greif by 0.9% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 312,534 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Greif by 23.7% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 212,888 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,707,000 after acquiring an additional 40,813 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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