Greif (NYSE:GEF) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $83.13, but opened at $86.39. Greif shares last traded at $81.30, with a volume of 36,322 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GEF. Raymond James Financial raised Greif from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Greif from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “cautious” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Greif from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Greif from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.40.

Greif Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.67. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.50. Greif had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 7.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. Greif’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Greif’s payout ratio is presently 77.74%.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In related news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.60, for a total transaction of $101,535.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,889,217.80. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark A. Emkes sold 3,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.04, for a total value of $261,120.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 43,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,777,536. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 98,987 shares of company stock worth $8,661,538. 7.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEF. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Greif by 106.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Greif by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in Greif during the first quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Greif in the second quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Greif by 8.4% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Greif

Greif, Inc is a global producer of industrial and paper packaging products and related services. The company manufactures and supplies fiber, steel and plastic drums; intermediate bulk containers; containerboard; corrugated sheets and products; and other packaging solutions for customers in a range of industries.

Greif also provides packaging lifecycle services, including container reconditioning, recycling, logistics and related customer support. Its products are used to package and transport food and beverage ingredients, chemicals, petroleum products, agricultural materials, pharmaceuticals and other industrial goods.

Founded in 1877 as a cooperage business, Greif has expanded into a multinational packaging company serving customers across North America, Europe and other international markets.