Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Shares Sold by EMC Capital Management

EMC Capital Management decreased its stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 84.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,435 shares during the quarter. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Greif were worth $164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GEF. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Greif by 3.2% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Greif by 71.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Greif during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Greif by 15.4% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,056 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In other news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value of $45,037.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,729 shares in the company, valued at $1,970,613.09. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer acquired 550 shares of Greif stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $67.88 per share, for a total transaction of $37,334.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 162,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,006,809.88. This represents a 0.34 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 6,225 shares of company stock valued at $431,731 over the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GEF. Sidoti began coverage on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America cut their price target on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.33.

Greif Trading Up 0.6 %

GEF stock opened at $62.26 on Friday. Greif, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.95 and a 12-month high of $73.16. The business’s 50-day moving average is $63.97 and its 200 day moving average is $63.34. 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 $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.77, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.95.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.23). Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.79%.

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.