Truist Financial Corp Raises Stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 39.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,799 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Greif were worth $822,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Greif during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $518,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Greif by 97.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 34,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,133,000 after acquiring an additional 16,759 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Greif by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 524,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,874,000 after acquiring an additional 44,473 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in Greif during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $610,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Greif by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 784,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,126,000 after acquiring an additional 30,192 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer acquired 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.88 per share, for a total transaction of $37,334.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 162,151 shares in the company, valued at $11,006,809.88. This represents a 0.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director B Andrew Rose acquired 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $70.20 per share, with a total value of $245,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at $245,700. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731 in the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on GEF shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Sidoti started coverage on Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.17.

Greif Stock Performance

GEF stock opened at $57.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. Greif, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.42 and a 12-month high of $73.16. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.07.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.33). The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.84%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. Greif’s payout ratio is currently 47.79%.

Greif Company 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.