Greif (NYSE:GEF) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Greif (NYSE:GEF) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on GEF. Truist Financial began coverage on Greif in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised Greif from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Greif from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.50.

Greif Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Greif stock opened at $57.17 on Tuesday. Greif has a 12-month low of $56.50 and a 12-month high of $76.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $62.31 and its 200-day moving average is $63.53.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 5.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Greif will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In other news, VP Gary R. Martz acquired 1,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $68.37 per share, with a total value of $123,544.59. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 23,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,579,347. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GEF. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Greif in the fourth quarter worth $10,972,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Greif by 318.7% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 133,169 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,735,000 after purchasing an additional 101,363 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Greif by 203.9% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 136,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,413,000 after purchasing an additional 91,461 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Greif by 121.8% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 69,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,540,000 after purchasing an additional 38,260 shares during the period. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Greif by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 78,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,159,000 after purchasing an additional 38,229 shares during the period. 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.