Private Management Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Private Management Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 293,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 20,910 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc. owned approximately 0.63% of Greif worth $19,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GEF. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Greif in the fourth quarter valued at $2,943,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 121.8% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 69,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,540,000 after purchasing an additional 38,260 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 94.6% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 78,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,159,000 after purchasing an additional 38,229 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 6.4% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 402,383 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,883,000 after purchasing an additional 24,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 338.1% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 20,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GEF has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Greif in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Greif from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.25.

Greif Price Performance

NYSE:GEF traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $62.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 148,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 171,852. Greif, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.37 and a 52-week high of $76.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.57. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.75, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.87.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $1.07. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Greif had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer acquired 14,200 shares of Greif stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $67.60 per share, with a total value of $959,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 159,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,753,537.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Greif news, CEO Ole G. Rosgaard purchased 4,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.00 per share, with a total value of $315,235.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 4,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $315,235. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 14,200 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.60 per share, with a total value of $959,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 159,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,753,537.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 42,934 shares of company stock valued at $2,864,352 and sold 6,000 shares valued at $384,620. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Greif 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.