Bala Sathyanarayanan Sells 748 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value of $45,037.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,970,613.09. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Greif Price Performance

GEF stock opened at $59.64 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.53. Greif, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.95 and a 52-week high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Greif’s payout ratio is presently 47.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GEF. Sidoti began coverage on shares of Greif in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Greif by 71.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Greif by 80.5% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,666 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its holdings in Greif by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Greif by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $192,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 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.