Greif (NYSE:GEF) Reaches New 52-Week Low at $56.50

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $56.50 and last traded at $56.51, with a volume of 33888 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $56.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Greif from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Bank of America raised Greif from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $76.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, June 17th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Greif in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Greif from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.50.

Greif Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. Greif had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. Greif’s payout ratio is presently 44.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Gary R. Martz bought 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $68.98 per share, for a total transaction of $275,920.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 17,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,173,901.64. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Greif news, VP Gary R. Martz acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $68.98 per share, with a total value of $275,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,173,901.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Gary R. Martz purchased 1,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $68.37 per share, for a total transaction of $123,544.59. Following the purchase, the vice president now owns 23,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,579,347. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GEF. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Greif by 162,700.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at about $176,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Greif in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Greif during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,000. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.