Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) Shares Up 8.9% – Time to Buy?

Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:GBX) rose 8.9% on Monday. The stock traded as high as $42.30 and last traded at $42.4760. 277,021 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 443,225 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on GBX shares. Zacks Research cut Greenbrier Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings cut Greenbrier Companies from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Bank of America cut their price target on Greenbrier Companies from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Greenbrier Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus target price of $42.67.

Greenbrier Companies Stock Up 5.8%

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 2.43 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The transportation company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $605.10 million. Greenbrier Companies had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 4.85%. The company’s revenue was down 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Greenbrier Companies, Inc. will post 3.30 earnings per share for the current year.

Greenbrier Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Greenbrier Companies’s payout ratio is presently 54.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 0.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,979,546 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $104,222,000 after buying an additional 13,153 shares during the period. Atlas FRM LLC purchased a new position in Greenbrier Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,599,688. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in Greenbrier Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,987,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Greenbrier Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $18,324,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Greenbrier Companies by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 150,096 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,903,000 after acquiring an additional 2,564 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.59% of the company’s stock.

About Greenbrier Companies

Greenbrier Companies, Inc is a transportation equipment company that designs, manufactures and supplies freight railcars and related services. Its products include covered hopper cars, tank cars, gondolas, boxcars, intermodal equipment and railcars used to transport automobiles and other specialized cargo.

The company also provides railcar leasing and management services, maintenance, refurbishment, wheel services and parts. Through its manufacturing and service operations, Greenbrier supports railroads, leasing companies, shippers and other participants in the North American freight transportation industry.

Founded in 1974 and headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, Greenbrier has expanded its operations beyond the United States, with manufacturing and service activities serving customers in North America and international markets.