Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Holdings Cut by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF – Free Report) by 85.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 50,167 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Greif were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 90.7% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. bought a new position in shares of Greif during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 48.9% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 326.6% during the 1st quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.98% of the company’s stock.

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Greif Stock Performance

NYSE:GEF opened at $65.67 on Wednesday. Greif, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.38 and a 1 year high of $76.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.01.

Greif (NYSE:GEF – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.39 billion. Greif had a net margin of 7.23% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. This is a positive change from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 14th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GEF. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target on shares of Greif in a report on Thursday, August 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Greif from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Greif in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

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Greif Profile

(Free Report)

Greif, Inc engages in the production and sale of industrial packaging products and services worldwide. It operates through three segments: Global Industrial Packaging; Paper Packaging & Services; and Land Management. The Global Industrial Packaging segment produces and sells industrial packaging products, including steel, fiber, and plastic drums; rigid and flexible intermediate bulk containers; closure systems for industrial packaging products; transit protection products; water bottles, and remanufactured and reconditioned industrial containers; and various services, such as container life cycle management, filling, logistics, warehousing, and other packaging services to chemicals, paints and pigments, food and beverage, petroleum, industrial coatings, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, mineral product, and other industries.

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