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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Greenbrier Companies

In related news, COO William J. Krueger sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 48,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,863,408.92. This trade represents a 3.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ricardo Galvan sold 1,388 shares of Greenbrier Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total value of $86,056.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 32,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,008,056. This represents a 4.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,703 shares of company stock worth $790,338. Insiders own 1.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greenbrier Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 1.2% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,616,767 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $80,111,000 after purchasing an additional 18,552 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Greenbrier Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 711,931 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,237,000 after buying an additional 7,886 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,536 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $26,154,000 after acquiring an additional 32,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Greenbrier Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $19,820,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.59% of the company’s stock.

Greenbrier Companies Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Greenbrier Companies stock traded down $0.30 on Wednesday, hitting $60.99. 201,359 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 319,348. Greenbrier Companies has a 52 week low of $41.40 and a 52 week high of $69.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.16. The company has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.60. Greenbrier Companies had a return on equity of 10.86% and a net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Greenbrier Companies will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Greenbrier Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Greenbrier Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on GBX shares. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Greenbrier Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on Greenbrier Companies from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

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.