Greif (NYSE:GEF) Price Target Lowered to $68.00 at Robert W. Baird

Greif (NYSE:GEF) had its price target dropped by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $75.00 to $68.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 21.35% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Sidoti assumed coverage on Greif in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.17.

Greif Price Performance

GEF stock opened at $56.04 on Friday. Greif has a 52-week low of $53.42 and a 52-week high of $73.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.33). 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 analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Greif will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In other Greif news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $67.61 per share, with a total value of $74,371.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 163,251 shares in the company, valued at $11,037,400.11. The trade was a 0.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value of $45,037.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,970,613.09. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased 6,225 shares of company stock valued at $431,731 over the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Greif

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GEF. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Greif by 7.0% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Greif by 66.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 4,250 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 1,692 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased 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 buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in Greif by 3.1% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 31,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Greif by 4.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 784,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,126,000 after buying an additional 30,192 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.