Benjamin Edwards Inc. Makes New $246,000 Investment in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,287 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Greif by 3.6% in the first quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Greif by 5.8% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Greif by 4.6% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 11.1% during the second quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 80.5% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GEF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Greif from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price target (down from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Greif in a report on Monday, August 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.00.

Greif Price Performance

NYSE GEF opened at $62.93 on Friday. Greif, Inc. has a one year low of $55.95 and a one year high of $71.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.96 and a 200 day moving average of $62.59. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.70.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 4.99%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. This is a boost from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.45%.

Greif 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.