The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (GBX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 on May 14th

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 5th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the transportation company on Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 22nd.

Greenbrier Companies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 1.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Greenbrier Companies has a payout ratio of 26.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Greenbrier Companies to earn $4.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.1%.

Greenbrier Companies Price Performance

Shares of GBX opened at $51.84 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Greenbrier Companies has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $58.00.

Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 5th. The transportation company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.28. Greenbrier Companies had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 2.97%. The business had revenue of $862.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $841.58 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Greenbrier Companies will post 4.13 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens lifted their price objective on Greenbrier Companies from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Greenbrier Companies from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Greenbrier Companies from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Greenbrier Companies from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Insider Transactions at Greenbrier Companies

In related news, EVP Brian J. Comstock sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.39, for a total transaction of $115,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 80,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,716,349.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Greenbrier Companies news, SVP Martin Raymond Baker sold 4,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $234,752.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,567,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian J. Comstock sold 2,500 shares of Greenbrier Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.39, for a total value of $115,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 80,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,716,349.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,965 shares of company stock valued at $1,011,213. 2.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greenbrier Companies

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Greenbrier Companies in the first quarter valued at $13,143,000. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Greenbrier Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $11,405,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Greenbrier Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,114,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 31.9% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,032,460 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,214,000 after buying an additional 249,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Greenbrier Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $4,246,000. Institutional investors 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.