HighTower Advisors LLC Has $1.62 Million Position in GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,423 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in GATX were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of GATX by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 92,861 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,299,000 after buying an additional 15,092 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of GATX by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,294,895 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $171,509,000 after acquiring an additional 7,585 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in GATX by 44.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 40,031 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,085,000 after buying an additional 12,342 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in GATX by 3.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 474,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,878,000 after purchasing an additional 17,255 shares during the period. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT purchased a new stake in GATX in the fourth quarter worth $252,000. 93.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at GATX

In other news, SVP Jeffery R. Young sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $48,895.11. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,212,006.06. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Zmudka sold 4,800 shares of GATX stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.83, for a total value of $786,384.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,227,578.19. The trade was a 39.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Sidoti downgraded GATX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

GATX Price Performance

GATX stock opened at $158.00 on Tuesday. GATX Co. has a one year low of $122.00 and a one year high of $168.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.81. The stock has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 3.41.

GATX (NYSE:GATX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. GATX had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 12.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. On average, analysts predict that GATX Co. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GATX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. This is a boost from GATX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. GATX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.40%.

GATX Company Profile

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.