Greif Trading Lower After Cutting 2011 EPS Guidance

Greif, Inc. GEF is trading over 2 percent lower after the company lowered its fiscal year 2011 EPS guidance. The company now sees diluted Class A EPS ex-items of $3.65-$3.75 versus the company's previous guidance of $4.15-$4.30. Greif says the lower earnings are mainly attributed to the lower than expected results in Western Europe. According to the company's statement, "2011 was the third best year in the history of the company and included record operating profit in the Paper Packaging segment and the North America and Asia Pacific regions of the Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services segment, and very strong performance in the first full year of the Flexible Products & Services segment." Greif is currently trading at $43.52, a loss of $1.09 or -2.44%