Arizona State Retirement System Raises Stock Holdings in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF – Get Rating) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 284 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Greif were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GEF. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Greif during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,648,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Greif by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 9,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Greif by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,901 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Greif by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 202,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,183,000 after purchasing an additional 29,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Greif by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 99,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,445,000 after purchasing an additional 34,220 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.25% of the company’s stock.

Greif Trading Down 0.9 %

Greif stock opened at $62.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.09 and a 200 day moving average of $66.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.96. 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.

Greif (NYSE:GEF – Get Rating) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Greif, Inc. will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Greif’s payout ratio is 26.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Greif news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $69.40 per share, for a total transaction of $249,840.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,044.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $69.40 per share, for a total transaction of $249,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,044.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $69.45 per share, with a total value of $208,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,399.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 8,437 shares of company stock worth $578,287 in the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Greif Company Profile

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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.