Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.15% of Greif worth $4,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 7.0% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $192,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Greif by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 4,250 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Greif by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in Greif by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 31,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 30,192 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GEF shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Sidoti initiated coverage on Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Greif news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total transaction of $45,037.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,729 shares in the company, valued at $1,970,613.09. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer acquired 1,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $69.14 per share, with a total value of $74,325.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,437,553.64. This represents a 0.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 6,225 shares of company stock valued at $431,731. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Greif Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of GEF opened at $55.44 on Tuesday. Greif, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.43 and a fifty-two week high of $73.16. The company’s fifty day moving average is $60.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.33). The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during 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%. Analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Greif’s payout ratio is currently 61.71%.

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.