Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:GBX - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $47.00, but opened at $53.75. Greenbrier Companies shares last traded at $54.83, with a volume of 699,168 shares changing hands.

The transportation company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.87. The firm had revenue of $842.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $785.72 million. Greenbrier Companies had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 6.48%. Greenbrier Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.06 earnings per share.

Greenbrier Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 17th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 17th. Greenbrier Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Greenbrier Companies from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO William J. Krueger sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $192,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,570,272. This represents a 10.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greenbrier Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GBX. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 32,993 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,012,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Greenbrier Companies by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 690 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in Greenbrier Companies by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 16,271 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $833,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Greenbrier Companies by 892.7% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 407 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Greenbrier Companies by 0.7% during 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 owned by institutional investors.

Greenbrier Companies Trading Up 21.6%

The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.13 and a 200 day moving average of $52.97.

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.