Greif, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.54 (NYSE:GEF)

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.54 per share by the industrial products company on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th.

Greif has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.6% per year over the last three years. Greif has a payout ratio of 39.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Greif to earn $5.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.4%.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GEF opened at $55.94 on Friday. Greif has a 52 week low of $53.43 and a 52 week high of $73.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.81%. On average, analysts expect that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GEF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down previously from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Sidoti initiated coverage on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price for the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Insider Activity at Greif

In other Greif news, VP David C. Lloyd sold 2,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $125,008.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,580 shares in the company, valued at $418,719.20. This represents a 22.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $67.88 per share, for a total transaction of $37,334.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 162,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. This trade represents a 0.34 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 10,225 shares of company stock worth $657,901 in the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.