Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $78.67.

GEF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 target price (down from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Sidoti began coverage on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Global Investments boosted its position in Greif by 75.3% during the second quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 8,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 3,531 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Greif in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Greif in the 2nd quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, Cadence Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Greif by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Greif Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of GEF stock opened at $66.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92. Greif has a 1 year low of $55.95 and a 1 year high of $73.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.19.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.23). Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Greif will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.79%.

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.