Insider Buying: Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Buys 550 Shares of Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 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 purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 162,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. This represents a 0.34 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of GEF stock traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $60.76. The stock had a trading volume of 229,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 172,360. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.14. Greif, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.95 and a twelve month high of $73.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

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

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GEF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced 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. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Greif in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Greif presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.