Short Interest in GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) Rises By 10.4%

GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,590,000 shares, a growth of 10.4% from the November 30th total of 1,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 171,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.3 days. Approximately 4.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other GATX news, major shareholder Farm Mutual Automobile I. State acquired 8,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $133.65 per share, for a total transaction of $1,200,711.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,312,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $442,688,093.10. This represents a 0.27 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GATX

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of GATX by 16.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 831,625 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $110,074,000 after purchasing an additional 120,149 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in GATX by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,118,084 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $412,710,000 after buying an additional 68,243 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in GATX by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 869,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $115,106,000 after buying an additional 40,924 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GATX during the third quarter worth $3,922,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of GATX by 46.4% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 71,366 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,446,000 after acquiring an additional 22,619 shares during the period. 93.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GATX shares. Sidoti lowered shares of GATX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on GATX from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on GATX in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $185.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, GATX has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.80.

GATX Stock Down 0.2 %

GATX traded down $0.25 on Wednesday, hitting $154.96. 104,710 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 155,635. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $154.83 and its 200-day moving average is $142.70. GATX has a 12 month low of $114.78 and a 12 month high of $167.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 3.41 and a current ratio of 3.41. The company has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72 and a beta of 0.99.

GATX (NYSE:GATX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.54. GATX had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $405.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that GATX will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GATX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. GATX’s dividend payout ratio is 31.02%.

About GATX

GATX Corporation, together its subsidiaries, operates as railcar leasing company in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and India. It operates through three segments: Rail North America, Rail International, and Portfolio Management. The company leases tank and freight railcars, and locomotives for petroleum, chemical, food/agriculture, and transportation industries.