Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Shares Bought by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 94.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,229 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Greif were worth $5,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Greif during the first quarter worth approximately $1,648,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 9,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Greif by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,901 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $904,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 16.8% in the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 202,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,183,000 after purchasing an additional 29,187 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Greif by 52.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 99,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,445,000 after purchasing an additional 34,220 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Greif Price Performance

GEF stock opened at $61.36 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.86. Greif, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.37 and a 12-month high of $76.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $1.07. Greif had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Gary R. Martz purchased 4,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $68.98 per share, with a total value of $275,920.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,173,901.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.05, for a total transaction of $126,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 62,392 shares in the company, valued at $3,933,815.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Gary R. Martz purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $68.98 per share, with a total value of $275,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 17,018 shares in the company, valued at $1,173,901.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 42,934 shares of company stock valued at $2,864,352 and sold 6,000 shares valued at $384,620. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GEF shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 1st. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Greif in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Greif from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.25.

Greif Company Profile

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.