Private Management Group Inc. Sells 1,311 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Private Management Group Inc. lessened its position in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 198,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,311 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. owned approximately 0.42% of Greif worth $12,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Greif during the 3rd quarter worth $518,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 97.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 34,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,133,000 after acquiring an additional 16,759 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Greif by 9.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 524,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,874,000 after purchasing an additional 44,473 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Greif during the 2nd quarter valued at about $452,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Greif by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 784,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,126,000 after purchasing an additional 30,192 shares during the period. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In other news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total transaction of $45,037.08. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $67.88 per share, with a total value of $37,334.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 162,151 shares in the company, valued at $11,006,809.88. The trade was a 0.34 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GEF. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Sidoti started coverage on Greif in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.33.

Greif Stock Up 0.9 %

Greif stock opened at $62.29 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Greif, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.95 and a 1-year high of $73.16. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.31. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.94.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.79%.

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.