Greif (NYSE:GEF) EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan Purchases 1,811 Shares

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan bought 1,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.10 per share, with a total value of $159,549.10. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 6,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $592,913. This represents a 36.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Bala Sathyanarayanan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, February 5th, Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 10,838 shares of Greif stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total value of $811,766.20.
• On Tuesday, February 3rd, Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 2,499 shares of Greif stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.29, for a total value of $180,652.71.
• On Tuesday, February 3rd, Bala Sathyanarayanan purchased 100 shares of Greif stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $87.69 per share, for a total transaction of $8,769.00.
• On Wednesday, February 4th, Bala Sathyanarayanan purchased 200 shares of Greif stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $89.22 per share, for a total transaction of $17,844.00.
• On Wednesday, December 10th, Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 7,000 shares of Greif stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $466,340.00.

Greif Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE GEF opened at $75.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Greif, Inc. has a one year low of $48.23 and a one year high of $75.99.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.21). Greif had a net margin of 7.52% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The firm had revenue of $994.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Greif’s payout ratio is presently 82.96%.

Key Greif News

Here are the key news stories impacting Greif this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CFO Lawrence Hilsheimer bought roughly 18,322 shares across Feb. 3–4 (total purchase value ~\$1.63M), a strong insider buy that can be seen as management confidence in the business and supports the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan made small purchases (100 and 200 shares on Feb. 3–4), a modest insider buy that provides additional alignment with shareholders. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Many insiders executed both buys and sells on nearby dates (different prices and sizes). Paired activity can reflect option exercises, tax/timing needs or rebalancing rather than a pure operational signal — interpret cautiously. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Net insider selling is significant: CFO sold 22,778 shares (~\$1.64M), EVP Bala sold ~13,337 shares (~\$992k across multiple trades) and SVP Kimberly Kellermann sold 5,265 shares (~\$379k). Aggregate proceeds exceed buys, which can exert near?term pressure on the stock. Read More. Read More. Read More.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GEF. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 75.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 524,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,352,000 after buying an additional 225,659 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. purchased a new position in Greif in the second quarter worth $9,052,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in Greif in the second quarter valued at $6,052,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its position in Greif by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 837,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,715,000 after purchasing an additional 79,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Medina Value Partners LLC lifted its stake in Greif by 19.3% during the third quarter. Medina Value Partners LLC now owns 372,250 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,246,000 after purchasing an additional 60,338 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GEF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised Greif from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Greif from $71.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Greif in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Greif from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Greif from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.50.

About Greif

Greif, Inc is a global leader in industrial packaging products and services, with a history dating back to its founding in 1877. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the company has evolved from a regional barrel and drum manufacturer into a diversified packaging provider serving a wide range of end markets. Greif’s longstanding heritage in container solutions has positioned it as a trusted partner for customers seeking reliable, high-quality packaging options.

The company’s core business revolves around the design, manufacture and sale of industrial packaging products, including steel, plastic and fiber drums; intermediate bulk containers (IBCs); safety closures; rigid, flexible and reconditioned packaging; containerboard and protective packaging.