The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Stock Holdings in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its holdings in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,678 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 191 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.06% of Greif worth $1,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Greif during the second quarter worth about $64,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Greif by 80.5% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Greif in the second quarter worth approximately $80,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Greif by 27,766.7% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 1,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Greif by 770.7% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 1,711 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Greif Price Performance

Shares of Greif stock opened at $61.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $61.43 and a 200 day moving average of $62.40. Greif, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.95 and a 52 week high of $71.36.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 4.99%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.54 dividend. This is an increase from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is 46.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GEF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price objective (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com lowered Greif from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Greif in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Greif presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Greif 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.