Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $69.12 and last traded at $69.12, with a volume of 56232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on GBX. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Greenbrier Companies from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Greenbrier Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Greenbrier Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Greenbrier Companies Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.04 and a 200-day moving average of $52.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.68, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.51.

Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. Greenbrier Companies had a return on equity of 10.86% and a net margin of 4.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Greenbrier Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Greenbrier Companies’s payout ratio is 24.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO William J. Krueger sold 2,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total transaction of $150,363.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 50,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,191,939.16. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Ricardo Galvan sold 4,950 shares of Greenbrier Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $321,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,785,680. This trade represents a 15.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,703 shares of company stock worth $790,338. 1.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greenbrier Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Greenbrier Companies during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Greenbrier Companies by 60.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 547 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Greenbrier Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Greenbrier Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Greenbrier Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.59% of the company’s stock.

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.