Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Short Interest Up 10.5% in August

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 593,800 shares, a growth of 10.5% from the August 15th total of 537,200 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 175,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Greif in a report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 target price (down from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James initiated coverage on Greif in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Greif from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Greif currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GEF. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Greif by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Greif by 71.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Greif by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cadence Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Greif by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Greif Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:GEF traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $62.89. The company had a trading volume of 46,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 164,732. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.59 and a 200 day moving average of $62.60. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.91. Greif has a 1 year low of $55.95 and a 1 year high of $71.36.

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is a positive change from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.45%.

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.