Greif (NYSE:GEF) Announces Earnings Results

Greif (NYSE:GEF) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.33), Zacks reports. Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.84%.

Greif Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE GEF traded down $0.27 on Wednesday, reaching $60.29. 117,195 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 151,085. Greif has a 12 month low of $55.95 and a 12 month high of $73.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Greif’s payout ratio is presently 47.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In other Greif news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total transaction of $45,037.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,970,613.09. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 550 shares of Greif stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $67.88 per share, with a total value of $37,334.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 162,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. The trade was a 0.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731 in the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.