First Trust Advisors LP Sells 98,057 Shares of The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX)

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX - Free Report) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 623,635 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 98,057 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 1.99% of Greenbrier Companies worth $38,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GBX. Values First Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Greenbrier Companies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 4,134 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 32,993 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,012,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its holdings in Greenbrier Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 19,675 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Greenbrier Companies by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,859 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $845,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 61,200 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,733,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 95.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO William J. Krueger sold 2,000 shares of the company's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,699,951.94. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Greenbrier Companies Price Performance

NYSE GBX traded down $0.18 on Wednesday, reaching $42.38. The company had a trading volume of 406,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 384,419. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 7.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.56. The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.77 and a 12 month high of $71.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $49.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.30.

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

Greenbrier Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This is a positive change from Greenbrier Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Greenbrier Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Greenbrier Companies from $75.00 to $52.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Greenbrier Companies from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th.

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.