Greif (NYSE:GEF) CFO Sells $273,240.00 in Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Lawrence Hilsheimer sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.72, for a total transaction of $273,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,326 shares in the company, valued at $3,784,434.72. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Greif Price Performance

Shares of Greif stock traded up $0.26 on Wednesday, reaching $61.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 207,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 190,588. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.04. Greif, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.23 and a 52-week high of $73.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.23 million. Greif had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 3.52%.Greif’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Greif’s payout ratio is currently 71.11%.

Institutional Trading of Greif

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Greif by 30.8% in the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 44,390 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,653,000 after acquiring an additional 10,444 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Greif by 285.0% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 43,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,606,000 after purchasing an additional 32,274 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Greif by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 7,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Greif by 75.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 524,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,352,000 after purchasing an additional 225,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Greif by 154.3% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 29,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after buying an additional 17,681 shares during the period. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GEF. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Greif from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Greif from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.20.

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.