Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Shares Bought by Axa S.A.

Axa S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 632.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 45,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,177 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Greif were worth $2,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Greif during the second quarter worth approximately $64,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted 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 purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Greif in the 2nd quarter valued at $80,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 27,766.7% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 1,666 shares during the period. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 162,700.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 1,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Greif Stock Performance

GEF opened at $62.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.93 and a 200-day moving average of $62.52. Greif, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.95 and a 52-week high of $71.36.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Greif had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 4.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is an increase from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Greif’s payout ratio is currently 46.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GEF shares. Raymond James began coverage on Greif in a report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Greif from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 target price (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Greif in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

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.