GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) Short Interest Up 5.1% in October

GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,430,000 shares, a growth of 5.1% from the October 15th total of 1,360,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 140,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 10.2 days. Approximately 4.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Susquehanna raised their price target on GATX from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

GATX Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:GATX opened at $151.53 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 0.95. GATX has a 52 week low of $106.92 and a 52 week high of $156.03. The company has a quick ratio of 3.41, a current ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $138.40 and a 200 day moving average of $136.76.

GATX (NYSE:GATX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $391.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. GATX’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that GATX will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

GATX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. GATX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GATX

In other GATX news, major shareholder Farm Mutual Automobile I. State purchased 8,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $133.65 per share, for a total transaction of $1,200,711.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,312,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $442,688,093.10. This represents a 0.27 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GATX

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GATX. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in GATX by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,118,084 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $412,710,000 after purchasing an additional 68,243 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of GATX by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,294,895 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $171,509,000 after buying an additional 7,585 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in GATX by 4.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 869,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $115,106,000 after buying an additional 40,924 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in GATX by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 849,603 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $112,550,000 after buying an additional 12,571 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in GATX by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 831,625 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,074,000 after acquiring an additional 120,149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.14% of the company’s stock.

GATX Company 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.