The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) Short Interest Up 11.8% in December

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,270,000 shares, a growth of 11.8% from the November 30th total of 2,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 298,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.6 days. Approximately 7.6% of the company's shares are short sold.

Greenbrier Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Greenbrier Companies stock traded down $0.30 on Wednesday, reaching $60.99. The stock had a trading volume of 201,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 319,348. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.16. Greenbrier Companies has a 1 year low of $41.40 and a 1 year high of $69.12.

Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.60. Greenbrier Companies had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 10.86%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Greenbrier Companies will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Greenbrier Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. Greenbrier Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GBX has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Greenbrier Companies from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Greenbrier Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO William J. Krueger sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 48,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,863,408.92. This trade represents a 3.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Ricardo Galvan sold 4,950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $321,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,785,680. This trade represents a 15.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,703 shares of company stock valued at $790,338 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.78% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greenbrier Companies

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GBX. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,616,767 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $80,111,000 after purchasing an additional 18,552 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Greenbrier Companies by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 711,931 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $36,237,000 after purchasing an additional 7,886 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 628,923 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $32,006,000 after buying an additional 2,536 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 6.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 513,938 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $26,154,000 after buying an additional 32,191 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Greenbrier Companies during the second quarter valued at $19,820,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.59% of the company's stock.

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.