GATX (NYSE:GATX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $167.52 and last traded at $167.00, with a volume of 6436 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $165.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Sidoti cut GATX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on GATX from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of GATX in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $185.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.80.

GATX Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $147.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.98. The firm has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15 and a beta of 0.99.

GATX (NYSE:GATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.54. GATX had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The company had revenue of $405.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that GATX Co. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

GATX Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. GATX’s dividend payout ratio is 31.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Farm Mutual Automobile I. State purchased 8,984 shares of GATX stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $133.65 per share, with a total value of $1,200,711.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,312,294 shares in the company, valued at $442,688,093.10. The trade was a 0.27 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GATX

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GATX. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of GATX by 108.4% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,751 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $761,000 after acquiring an additional 2,992 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in GATX by 2.9% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in GATX by 8.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,144 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC grew its stake in GATX by 149.4% in the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 7,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $994,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of GATX by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,509 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. 93.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.