Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $51.45, but opened at $55.90. Greenbrier Companies shares last traded at $56.19, with a volume of 83,072 shares traded.

The transportation company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.60. Greenbrier Companies had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 3.51%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Greenbrier Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Greenbrier Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on GBX shares. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Greenbrier Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Greenbrier Companies from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Greenbrier Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Greenbrier Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greenbrier Companies

In other Greenbrier Companies news, SVP Laurie R. Dornan sold 5,935 shares of Greenbrier Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.92, for a total value of $302,210.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,182,667.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greenbrier Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Greenbrier Companies by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,939 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 30,578 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,556,000 after buying an additional 8,835 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 4,988.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 23,460 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,940,000 after buying an additional 22,999 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Greenbrier Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $102,000. Finally, von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Greenbrier Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $1,823,000. 95.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Greenbrier Companies Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.88.

Greenbrier Companies Company Profile

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets railroad freight car equipment in North America, Europe, and South America. It operates through three segments: Manufacturing; Maintenance Services; and Leasing & Management Services. The Manufacturing segment offers covered hopper cars, gondolas, open top hoppers, boxcars, center partition cars, tank cars, sustainable conversions, double-stack railcars, auto-max ii, multi-max, and multi-max plus products, intermodal cars, automobile transport, coil steel and metals, flat cars, sliding wall cars, pressurized tank cars, and non-pressurized tank cars.