Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Purchases 38,229 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 94.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 38,229 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Greif worth $5,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the 4th quarter valued at $2,943,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Greif by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP lifted its position in Greif by 338.1% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 20,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in Greif by 8.1% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 7,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. bought a new position in shares of Greif in the third quarter worth about $342,000. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ole G. Rosgaard bought 4,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $67.00 per share, for a total transaction of $315,235.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 4,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $315,235. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Greif news, CEO Ole G. Rosgaard bought 4,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $67.00 per share, with a total value of $315,235.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315,235. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Anthony John Krabill purchased 745 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $63.12 per share, with a total value of $47,024.40. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 1,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,211.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 42,934 shares of company stock valued at $2,864,352 and have sold 6,000 shares valued at $384,620. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GEF. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Greif from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 1st. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Greif in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.25.

Greif Stock Performance

GEF stock opened at $61.36 on Friday. Greif, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.37 and a twelve month high of $76.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $1.07. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Greif had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. Analysts predict that Greif, Inc. will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Greif’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

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.