Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 233,763 The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 233,763 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $14,257,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.75% of Greenbrier Companies as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Greenbrier Companies in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 241.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Greenbrier Companies by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,466 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC acquired a new position in Greenbrier Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC purchased a new stake in Greenbrier Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.59% of the company's stock.

Greenbrier Companies Stock Performance

NYSE GBX traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.59. The stock had a trading volume of 606,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,614. The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.77 and a 52-week high of $71.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.87 and a 200 day moving average of $59.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.56.

Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The transportation company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $762.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $898.53 million. Greenbrier Companies had a net margin of 5.10% and a return on equity of 12.10%. Greenbrier Companies's revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Greenbrier Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This is a positive change from Greenbrier Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Greenbrier Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Insider Transactions at Greenbrier Companies

In other news, COO William J. Krueger sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.21, for a total transaction of $126,420.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 42,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,699,951.94. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Greenbrier Companies from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Greenbrier Companies from $75.00 to $52.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday.

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.