Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Stake in GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 34,788 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,391,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GATX. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of GATX by 91.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 163 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in GATX by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 178 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in GATX by 184.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 259 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in GATX during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in GATX by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 423 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.14% of the company’s stock.

GATX Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GATX opened at $159.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 3.41 and a current ratio of 2.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $160.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.99. GATX Co. has a 52-week low of $122.00 and a 52-week high of $168.89.

GATX (NYSE:GATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. GATX had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 17.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that GATX Co. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GATX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. This is a positive change from GATX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. GATX’s payout ratio is presently 31.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Sidoti lowered shares of GATX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other GATX news, VP Robert Zmudka sold 4,800 shares of GATX stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.83, for a total transaction of $786,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,578.19. The trade was a 39.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeffery R. Young sold 297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $48,895.11. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,362 shares in the company, valued at $1,212,006.06. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

GATX Profile

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.