Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF – Get Rating) Director Vicki L. Avril-Groves sold 2,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.16, for a total transaction of $165,984.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,783,413.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.
Greif Stock Down 1.2 %
Shares of NYSE GEF traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.22. The company had a trading volume of 289,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 220,777. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.42. Greif, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.65 and a 12-month high of $72.79.
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Greif (NYSE:GEF – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.35. Greif had a net margin of 5.93% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.
Greif Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Greif's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Greif's payout ratio is presently 28.89%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GEF. StockNews.com upgraded Greif from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Greif from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised Greif from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $52.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, September 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Greif in a research note on Friday, September 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.20.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,973 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Greif by 193.2% during the 2nd quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 9,200 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 6,062 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 674,487 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,440,000 after acquiring an additional 80,186 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Greif by 50.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 29,472 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 9,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Greif by 50.5% during the second quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 67,442 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,207,000 after purchasing an additional 22,642 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.04% of the company's stock.
Greif Company Profile
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Greif, Inc engages in the production and sale of industrial packaging products and services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Global Industrial Packaging; Paper Packaging & Services; and Land Management. 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.
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