Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Plans $0.54 Quarterly Dividend

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.54 per share by the industrial products company on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th.

Greif has increased its dividend by an average of 5.6% annually over the last three years. Greif has a dividend payout ratio of 39.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Greif to earn $5.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.4%.

Greif Trading Up 1.3 %

GEF stock traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.57. 130,478 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 153,241. Greif has a 12-month low of $55.95 and a 12-month high of $73.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted 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 company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director B Andrew Rose acquired 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.20 per share, with a total value of $245,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,700. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer acquired 550 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $67.88 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $11,006,809.88. This represents a 0.34 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.