Greif (NYSE:GEF) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Greif (NYSE:GEF – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Greif from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Greif currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $72.00.

Greif Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:GEF opened at $58.16 on Thursday. Greif has a 12-month low of $57.10 and a 12-month high of $74.22. The company has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 7.59, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $68.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.20). Greif had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 25.66%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Greif will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 16th. Greif’s payout ratio is 26.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer sold 4,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.95, for a total transaction of $318,012.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,594 shares in the company, valued at $5,127,968.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 2,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $76.78 per share, for a total transaction of $167,380.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 91,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,029,362.56. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer sold 4,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.95, for a total value of $318,012.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,127,968.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 11,129 shares of company stock worth $820,413. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Greif

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Greif in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Greif by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Greif in the 4th quarter worth $67,000. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Greif in the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Greif in the 3rd quarter worth $78,000. 47.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Greif

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Greif, Inc engages in the production of industrial packaging products and services. It operates through the following segments: Global Industrial Packaging, Paper Packaging & Services, and Land Management. The Global Industrial Packaging segment involves the production of industrial packaging products, such as steel, fiber & plastic drums, rigid & flexible intermediate bulk containers, closure systems for industrial packaging products, transit protection products, water bottles, and remanufactured & reconditioned industrial containers.