The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) Short Interest Update

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,130,000 shares, a decline of 6.2% from the December 15th total of 2,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 316,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.7 days. Approximately 7.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greenbrier Companies

In other Greenbrier Companies news, COO William J. Krueger sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 48,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,863,408.92. This trade represents a 3.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Ricardo Galvan sold 1,976 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $114,608.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 33,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,959,008. The trade was a 5.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,703 shares of company stock valued at $790,338 over the last quarter. 1.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greenbrier Companies

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,616,767 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $80,111,000 after purchasing an additional 18,552 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Greenbrier Companies by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 711,931 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,237,000 after buying an additional 7,886 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Greenbrier Companies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 628,923 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,006,000 after buying an additional 2,536 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Greenbrier Companies by 6.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 513,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,154,000 after buying an additional 32,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Greenbrier Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $19,820,000. 95.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Greenbrier Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:GBX traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $66.85. 663,412 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 292,397. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.54. Greenbrier Companies has a 1-year low of $41.40 and a 1-year high of $69.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.96 and a 200 day moving average of $55.31.

Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The transportation company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.56. Greenbrier Companies had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 5.10%. The firm had revenue of $875.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Greenbrier Companies will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Greenbrier Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Greenbrier Companies’s payout ratio is currently 20.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on Greenbrier Companies from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Greenbrier Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.00.

About Greenbrier Companies

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.