Truist Financial Corp Acquires New Position in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Truist Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,872 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Greif by 16.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 372,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,381,000 after acquiring an additional 53,110 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Greif by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 262,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,061,000 after buying an additional 28,669 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Greif during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,012,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Greif by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,185,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Greif by 59.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 753,812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,321,000 after purchasing an additional 280,330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of GEF opened at $64.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 0.91. Greif, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.95 and a 12-month high of $71.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $61.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.23.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 4.99%. Equities research analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Greif’s payout ratio is currently 46.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on GEF. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Greif from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (down from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Greif in a report on Monday, August 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.00.

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.