GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) Position Boosted by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,692 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in GATX were worth $1,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of GATX by 108.4% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,751 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 2,992 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of GATX by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of GATX by 8.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,144 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GATX during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of GATX by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 32,071 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,245,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787 shares during the period. 93.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

GATX Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:GATX opened at $161.32 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 0.99. GATX Co. has a fifty-two week low of $114.78 and a fifty-two week high of $167.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 3.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $149.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.57.

GATX (NYSE:GATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.54. GATX had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $405.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that GATX Co. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GATX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. GATX’s dividend payout ratio is 31.02%.

Insider Activity at GATX

In other GATX news, major shareholder Farm Mutual Automobile I. State bought 8,984 shares of GATX stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $133.65 per share, for a total transaction of $1,200,711.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 3,312,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $442,688,093.10. The trade was a 0.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on GATX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of GATX in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $185.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of GATX from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Sidoti cut shares of GATX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.80.

About GATX

GATX Corporation, together its subsidiaries, operates as railcar leasing company in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and India. It operates through three segments: Rail North America, Rail International, and Portfolio Management. The company leases tank and freight railcars, and locomotives for petroleum, chemical, food/agriculture, and transportation industries.