Squarepoint Ops LLC Buys 4,056 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 122.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,362 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 4,056 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Greif were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Greif in the 4th quarter worth $366,000. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its position in Greif by 20.2% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 77,313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,338,000 after acquiring an additional 13,018 shares during the last quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Greif in the first quarter valued at approximately $337,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Greif by 24,865.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 5,719 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Greif by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Greif in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James initiated coverage on Greif in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $67.00 price target (down from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Greif Price Performance

GEF opened at $61.78 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.43 and a 200-day moving average of $62.40. Greif, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.95 and a 1-year high of $71.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.70.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Greif had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. Equities analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.54 dividend. This is a positive change from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. 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.