Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded Greenbrier Companies from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Greenbrier Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Greenbrier Companies Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of GBX opened at $48.01 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.37 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.11. Greenbrier Companies has a twelve month low of $38.23 and a twelve month high of $59.19.

Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 7th. The transportation company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $587.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $667.02 million. Greenbrier Companies had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 5.12%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Greenbrier Companies will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Greenbrier Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, April 20th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Greenbrier Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 20th. Greenbrier Companies’s payout ratio is 29.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greenbrier Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GBX. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Greenbrier Companies by 254.6% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,859,224 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $86,900,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334,891 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in Greenbrier Companies in the first quarter worth about $20,312,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 98.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 762,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,658,000 after buying an additional 379,314 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 106.8% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 395,503 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $18,260,000 after buying an additional 204,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Greenbrier Companies by 2,223.0% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 160,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,415,000 after buying an additional 153,679 shares during the last quarter. 95.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Greenbrier Companies

The Greenbrier Companies, headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, is a leading supplier of freight transportation equipment and services. The company designs, engineers and manufactures railroad freight cars—such as intermodal well cars, covered hoppers, tank cars and double-stack cars—as well as marine barges for domestic and international customers. Beyond original equipment production, Greenbrier provides aftermarket services including maintenance, repair, refurbishment and mechanical overhauls under long-term service agreements.

Greenbrier’s operations are organized into OEM and aftermarket segments, with manufacturing facilities and engineering centers across North America, Europe and Russia.