Greif (NYSE:GEF) Price Target Lowered to $68.00 at Robert W. Baird

Greif (NYSE:GEF) had its price objective decreased by Robert W. Baird from $75.00 to $68.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

GEF has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Sidoti initiated coverage on Greif in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Greif has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.17.

Greif Stock Performance

GEF opened at $57.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.05. Greif has a fifty-two week low of $53.42 and a fifty-two week high of $73.16.

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

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is 47.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Greif news, Director B Andrew Rose bought 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.20 per share, with a total value of $245,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $245,700. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $67.88 per share, for a total transaction of $37,334.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 162,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. The trade was a 0.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GEF. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Greif by 7.0% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Greif by 66.1% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 4,250 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 1,692 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Greif by 3.2% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in Greif by 3.1% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 31,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,954,000 after buying an additional 943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Greif by 4.0% in the third 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 last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.