Key Points
- Greif SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 6,000 shares for approximately $511,560, reducing his position by 9.4% to 57,832 shares. The sale follows three earlier 2,000-share sales in May, June and July.
- Greif reported quarterly EPS of $1.61, beating estimates of $1.11, while revenue rose 3.5% year over year to $1.17 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.62, or $2.48 annually, yielding about 2.8%.
- Shares opened at $89.84 near their 12-month high of $90.57, while analysts maintained a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $83.00.
Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) Director Mark Emkes sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.04, for a total transaction of $261,120.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 43,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,777,536. This trade represents a 6.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.
Greif Price Performance
Shares of NYSE GEF opened at $89.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.75. Greif, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.75 and a twelve month high of $90.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.25 and a 200 day moving average of $70.57.
Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 7.53%.The company's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Greif Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 17th. This is an increase from Greif's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Greif's dividend payout ratio is currently 95.02%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Greif by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 899,137 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $60,872,000 after purchasing an additional 3,793 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 837,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,715,000 after buying an additional 79,813 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 567,333 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $38,408,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Greif by 75.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 524,603 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $31,352,000 after buying an additional 225,659 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Greif by 119.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 325,951 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $22,067,000 after buying an additional 177,203 shares during the period. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts recently commented on GEF shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Greif from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America cut shares of Greif from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Greif from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up from $78.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Greif from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Greif currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.00.
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About Greif
(
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Greif, Inc is a global leader in industrial packaging products and services, with a history dating back to its founding in 1877. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the company has evolved from a regional barrel and drum manufacturer into a diversified packaging provider serving a wide range of end markets. Greif's longstanding heritage in container solutions has positioned it as a trusted partner for customers seeking reliable, high-quality packaging options.
The company's core business revolves around the design, manufacture and sale of industrial packaging products, including steel, plastic and fiber drums; intermediate bulk containers (IBCs); safety closures; rigid, flexible and reconditioned packaging; containerboard and protective packaging.
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