Greif (NYSE:GEF) Share Price Breaks Below 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)’s stock price crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $74.68 and traded as low as $73.09. Greif shares last traded at $73.3840, with a volume of 517,255 shares traded.

Key Headlines Impacting Greif

Here are the key news stories impacting Greif this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Greif raised its annualized run-rate cost-savings target to $150 million and reported year-end leverage of 1.2 times, supporting its efforts to improve efficiency and strengthen its balance sheet. Greif: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share, equivalent to $2.48 annually. Greif stock information
• Neutral Sentiment: Greif was named one of America’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces for the sixth consecutive year, a reputational positive with limited near-term earnings implications. Greif Named Top 100 Most Loved Workplace
• Negative Sentiment: Truist lowered its price target to $88 from $94 while reaffirming its Hold rating. Although the new target remains above the share price cited in the report, the cut may signal reduced analyst expectations. Truist Cuts Price Target on Greif
• Negative Sentiment: Fiscal fourth-quarter earnings missed estimates as higher costs squeezed margins, despite sales beating expectations on stronger pricing. The earnings shortfall is likely the most direct near-term headwind for the stock. Greif Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates on Higher Costs, Sales Beat

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GEF. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $88.00 price target (down from $94.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Greif in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Greif from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Greif from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.20.

Greif Trading Down 4.3%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $82.05 and a 200 day moving average of $74.68. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 5.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Greif, Inc. will post 4.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 17th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.74%.

Insider Activity at Greif

In other news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 1,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.67, for a total value of $109,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 7,549 shares in the company, valued at $827,898.83. The trade was a 11.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $163,640.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 51,832 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,894.24. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,000 shares of company stock valued at $613,710. Insiders own 7.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GEF. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Greif by 35.0% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 246,492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,361,000 after purchasing an additional 63,843 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Greif during the first quarter valued at about $1,853,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 362.2% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 24,846 shares during the period. Odyssean LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 500.8% during the second quarter. Odyssean LLC now owns 18,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 15,426 shares during the period. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Greif during the 1st quarter worth about $871,000. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Greif

Greif, Inc is a global producer of industrial and paper packaging products and related services. The company manufactures and supplies fiber, steel and plastic drums; intermediate bulk containers; containerboard; corrugated sheets and products; and other packaging solutions for customers in a range of industries.

Greif also provides packaging lifecycle services, including container reconditioning, recycling, logistics and related customer support. Its products are used to package and transport food and beverage ingredients, chemicals, petroleum products, agricultural materials, pharmaceuticals and other industrial goods.

Founded in 1877 as a cooperage business, Greif has expanded into a multinational packaging company serving customers across North America, Europe and other international markets.