Lawrence A. Hilsheimer Acquires 1,100 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer acquired 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $67.61 per share, with a total value of $74,371.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 163,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,037,400.11. This trade represents a 0.68 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Greif Stock Performance

GEF stock traded up $0.91 on Thursday, hitting $62.07. The company had a trading volume of 81,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 171,730. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.12. Greif, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.95 and a 12-month high of $73.16.

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

Greif Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is 47.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Greif by 71.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Greif in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Greif by 80.5% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the second quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 27,766.7% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 1,666 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GEF. 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 research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Sidoti started coverage on Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price objective (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.67.

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.