First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Purchases Shares of 10,611 Greif, Inc. $GEF

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 10,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GEF. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Greif by 4.7% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,251,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,797,000 after purchasing an additional 55,948 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Greif by 4.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 596,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,805,000 after buying an additional 27,832 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 366,449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,015,000 after buying an additional 128,880 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 212,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,707,000 after buying an additional 40,813 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Greif by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 129,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,115,000 after acquiring an additional 5,902 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.09, for a total transaction of $120,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 64,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,886,501.02. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Greif Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE GEF opened at $59.80 on Friday. Greif, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.23 and a 52 week high of $73.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.00.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.23 million. Greif had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a $0.56 dividend. This is an increase from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Greif’s payout ratio is currently 71.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GEF shares. Zacks Research raised Greif from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Greif from $76.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Greif in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

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.