Benjamin Edwards Inc. Takes Position in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,287 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in shares of Greif by 192.7% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 8,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 5,620 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Greif by 46.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 2,390 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Greif by 5.8% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Greif by 36.5% in the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 105,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,064,000 after purchasing an additional 28,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Greif by 450.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 56,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,243,000 after purchasing an additional 46,176 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (down from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Greif in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Greif from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.00.

Greif Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE GEF opened at $62.93 on Friday. Greif, Inc. has a one year low of $55.95 and a one year high of $71.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.91.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 13.28%. As a group, analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

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