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

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

Greif has raised its dividend by an average of 5.6% per year 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 %

Shares of NYSE:GEF traded up $0.76 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.57. 130,478 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 153,241. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.13. 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 PE ratio of 13.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Greif will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Greif news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total transaction of $45,037.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,970,613.09. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have acquired 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.