Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Lowers Holdings in Greif, Inc. $GEF

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its stake in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 841,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 119,817 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Greif were worth $54,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 4.7% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,251,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,797,000 after purchasing an additional 55,948 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Greif by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 596,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,805,000 after acquiring an additional 27,832 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Greif by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 366,449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,015,000 after acquiring an additional 128,880 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 312,534 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. bought a new position in shares of Greif during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,052,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Greif from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Greif from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $466,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,513,239.50. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $65.49 per share, with a total value of $65,490.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 198,444 shares in the company, valued at $12,996,097.56. This trade represents a 0.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have bought 32,293 shares of company stock valued at $2,145,733 and have sold 60,851 shares valued at $3,702,203. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Greif Price Performance

GEF stock opened at $68.41 on Monday. Greif, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.23 and a 12 month high of $70.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 0.95.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.11%.

Greif Profile

Greif, Inc engages in the production and sale of industrial packaging products and services worldwide. The company operates through Global Industrial Packaging; Paper Packaging & Services; and Land Management segments. 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.