Short Interest in GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) Rises By 9.7%

GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,360,000 shares, a growth of 9.7% from the September 30th total of 1,240,000 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 145,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of GATX from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

GATX Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE GATX opened at $137.85 on Friday. GATX has a twelve month low of $102.18 and a twelve month high of $151.33. The firm has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.91. The company has a quick ratio of 4.97, a current ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41.

GATX (NYSE:GATX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.54. GATX had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 17.76%. The firm had revenue of $405.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that GATX will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GATX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. GATX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Farm Mutual Automobile I. State bought 8,984 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $133.65 per share, with a total value of $1,200,711.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 3,312,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $442,688,093.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GATX

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GATX. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new position in GATX in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in shares of GATX in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of GATX in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of GATX in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of GATX by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 487 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 93.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.