Greif (NYSE:GEF) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Greif (NYSE:GEF) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.33), Zacks reports. Greif had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion.

Greif Price Performance

Shares of GEF traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $56.41. 96,034 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 158,637. Greif has a 12 month low of $53.42 and a 12 month high of $73.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.06.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Greif’s payout ratio is currently 47.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on GEF. Sidoti started coverage on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.17.

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.