Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Short Interest Update

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) was the target of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 598,400 shares, a growth of 8.3% from the October 15th total of 552,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 160,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Greif Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:GEF opened at $67.05 on Tuesday. Greif has a 52 week low of $55.95 and a 52 week high of $71.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.91.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.14). Greif had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Greif will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GEF. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Greif in a report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price objective (down from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.00.

Institutional Trading of Greif

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Greif by 24,865.2% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $396,000 after acquiring an additional 5,719 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Mirova purchased a new position in Greif in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,597,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Greif by 133.9% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 13,047 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 7,468 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Greif by 5.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

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.