Private Management Group Inc. Sells 88,229 Shares of Greif, Inc. $GEF

Private Management Group Inc. decreased its position in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 57.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 88,229 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Greif were worth $5,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Greif by 268.3% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Greif during the 2nd quarter worth about $218,000. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Greif during the 3rd quarter worth about $229,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Greif during the 3rd quarter valued at about $254,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP grew its position in shares of Greif by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 4,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GEF. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Greif from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “cautious” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $88.00 price target (down from $94.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Greif from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Greif from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Bank of America lowered Greif from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $163,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 51,832 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,894.24. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.67, for a total transaction of $109,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,549 shares in the company, valued at $827,898.83. This represents a 11.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,000 shares of company stock valued at $439,590. Insiders own 7.70% of the company’s stock.

Greif Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GEF opened at $72.90 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $81.40 and a 200 day moving average of $74.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. Greif, Inc. has a one year low of $59.01 and a one year high of $90.57.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.12 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Greif had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Greif, Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 17th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Greif’s payout ratio is currently 55.98%.

Greif Profile

Greif, Inc. is a global industrial packaging company that makes products used to store and transport goods. Its offerings include steel, plastic and fiber drums, intermediate bulk containers, jerrycans and other rigid packaging, as well as reconditioned containers and related services. The company also provides packaging accessories and services such as container filling, supply-chain support and packaging design. Greif serves customers in industries including chemicals, food and beverage, petroleum and pharmaceuticals.