Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 2,560 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its holdings in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF – Get Rating) by 15.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,726 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,560 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Greif were worth $818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GEF. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Greif in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Greif during the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Greif during the third quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Greif during the third quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 145.9% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 1,479 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Greif from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Greif from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Greif news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 4,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $78.93 per share, for a total transaction of $319,666.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 95,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,545,865.86. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Greif news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 4,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $78.93 per share, for a total transaction of $319,666.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 95,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,545,865.86. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer sold 4,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.95, for a total transaction of $318,012.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,594 shares in the company, valued at $5,127,968.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 6,292 shares of company stock worth $491,967. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Greif Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of GEF stock opened at $61.03 on Tuesday. Greif, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.10 and a 12-month high of $74.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $69.14 and its 200 day moving average is $67.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.99.

Greif (NYSE:GEF – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.20). Greif had a return on equity of 25.66% and a net margin of 7.53%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Greif’s payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

About Greif

(Get Rating)

Greif, Inc engages in the production of industrial packaging products and services. It operates through the following segments: Global Industrial Packaging, Paper Packaging & Services, and Land Management. The Global Industrial Packaging segment involves the production of industrial packaging products, such as steel, fiber & plastic drums, rigid & flexible intermediate bulk containers, closure systems for industrial packaging products, transit protection products, water bottles, and remanufactured & reconditioned industrial containers.