Insider Selling: Greif (NYSE:GEF) EVP Sells $101,535.60 in Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 1,146 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.60, for a total value of $101,535.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,889,217.80. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Greif Price Performance

GEF stock opened at $87.88 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $75.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.14. Greif, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.75 and a 12-month high of $90.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.75.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 7.53%.Greif’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 17th were issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on GEF. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Greif from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $97.00 price objective (up from $78.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Greif from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Greif from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Greif presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Institutional Trading of Greif

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 899,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,872,000 after acquiring an additional 3,793 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its position in shares of Greif by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 837,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,715,000 after acquiring an additional 79,813 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Greif by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 567,333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Greif by 75.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 524,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,352,000 after purchasing an additional 225,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Greif by 119.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 325,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,067,000 after purchasing an additional 177,203 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Greif

Greif, Inc is a global leader in industrial packaging products and services, with a history dating back to its founding in 1877. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the company has evolved from a regional barrel and drum manufacturer into a diversified packaging provider serving a wide range of end markets. Greif’s longstanding heritage in container solutions has positioned it as a trusted partner for customers seeking reliable, high-quality packaging options.

The company’s core business revolves around the design, manufacture and sale of industrial packaging products, including steel, plastic and fiber drums; intermediate bulk containers (IBCs); safety closures; rigid, flexible and reconditioned packaging; containerboard and protective packaging.