Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $51.45, but opened at $55.90. Greenbrier Companies shares last traded at $56.19, with a volume of 83,072 shares changing hands.

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 analysts' expectations of $1.05 billion. Greenbrier Companies had a net margin of 3.51% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share.

Greenbrier Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. Greenbrier Companies's dividend payout ratio is 31.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GBX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Greenbrier Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of Greenbrier Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Greenbrier Companies from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Greenbrier Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Laurie R. Dornan sold 5,935 shares of Greenbrier Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.92, for a total value of $302,210.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,182,667.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Greenbrier Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Greenbrier Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Greenbrier Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 60.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 547 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Greenbrier Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Greenbrier Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.59% of the company's stock.

Greenbrier Companies Trading Up 16.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.53. The business's fifty day moving average is $49.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.88.

About Greenbrier Companies

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.