Truist Financial Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Greif (NYSE:GEF) Stock

Greif (NYSE:GEF) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from $67.00 to $71.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.43% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Sidoti began coverage on shares of Greif in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.33.

Greif Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GEF opened at $59.45 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.09. Greif has a 1 year low of $55.95 and a 1 year high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.23). Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Greif will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director B Andrew Rose purchased 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.20 per share, for a total transaction of $245,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,700. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $67.61 per share, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 6,225 shares of company stock valued at $431,731 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 280,330 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Greif by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 540,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,053,000 after purchasing an additional 80,754 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Greif in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,012,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Greif by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 372,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,381,000 after buying an additional 53,110 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Greif by 450.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 56,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 46,176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

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.