Greif (NYSE:GEF) Reaches New 52-Week Low at $59.81

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $59.81 and last traded at $59.85, with a volume of 12390 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on GEF shares. Bank of America raised Greif from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Greif from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Greif in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Greif from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.50.

Greif Trading Down 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 0.89.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Greif had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.73%.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In other news, VP Gary R. Martz purchased 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $68.98 per share, with a total value of $275,920.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 17,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,173,901.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Greif news, VP Gary R. Martz purchased 4,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $68.98 per share, with a total value of $275,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 17,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,173,901.64. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Gary R. Martz acquired 1,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $68.37 per share, for a total transaction of $123,544.59. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 23,100 shares in the company, valued at $1,579,347. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 7,732 shares of company stock valued at $532,020. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Greif during the third quarter worth about $213,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Greif by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 281,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,791,000 after acquiring an additional 7,202 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 197.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 11,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 7,730 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Greif during the third quarter worth $751,000. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Greif by 8.1% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 7,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Greif Company Profile

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.