Lawrence A. Hilsheimer Purchases 1,100 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $67.61 per share, for a total transaction of $74,371.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 163,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,037,400.11. This represents a 0.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of GEF opened at $61.26 on Friday. Greif, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.95 and a 52 week high of $73.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $66.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.12.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.23). Greif had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GEF. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price objective (down from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Sidoti began coverage on Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Four 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.67.

Institutional Trading of Greif

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 71.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Greif during the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 80.5% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif in the second quarter worth approximately $80,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 27,766.7% during the second 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 during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.