Wesbanco Bank Inc. Grows Position in Greif, Inc. $GEF

Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 91.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,839 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Greif were worth $1,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Greif by 6.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 895,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,506,000 after purchasing an additional 54,256 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in Greif by 10.5% in 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 during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Greif by 75.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 524,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,352,000 after purchasing an additional 225,659 shares during the period. Medina Value Partners LLC grew 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 buying an additional 60,338 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Greif by 16.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 148,748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,889,000 after buying an additional 20,858 shares during the period. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on GEF. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Greif from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Greif in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $73.50.

Greif Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE GEF opened at $68.09 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.60. Greif, Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.03 and a 52 week high of $77.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.82.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.06). Greif had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.27%.The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Greif, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Greif’s payout ratio is presently 85.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.42, for a total transaction of $140,840.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 69,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,917,569.44. The trade was a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 2,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.67, for a total transaction of $209,385.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 34,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,612,606.92. The trade was a 7.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,731 shares of company stock worth $633,426. Corporate insiders own 7.70% of the company’s stock.

Greif Company Profile

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.