KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 6,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Greenbrier Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 241.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,466 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Greenbrier Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $107,000. Finally, Westhampton Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Greenbrier Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,000. 95.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Greenbrier Companies Stock Performance

Shares of GBX opened at $45.60 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.40 and a 52 week high of $71.06. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.96, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.56.

Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The transportation company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.56. Greenbrier Companies had a net margin of 5.10% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The company had revenue of $875.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $849.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Greenbrier Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Greenbrier Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Greenbrier Companies’s payout ratio is 20.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO William J. Krueger sold 2,000 shares of Greenbrier Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.21, for a total transaction of $126,420.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 42,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,699,951.94. This trade represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Greenbrier Companies from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

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.