GATX (NYSE:GATX) Upgraded to “Buy” at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of GATX (NYSE:GATX) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $211.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $210.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna upped their price target on GATX from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of GATX in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $204.00 price target on shares of GATX in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.67.

GATX Stock Up 4.9%

NYSE GATX opened at $185.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31 and a beta of 1.22. GATX has a fifty-two week low of $139.79 and a fifty-two week high of $199.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $180.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $172.58. The company has a quick ratio of 16.31, a current ratio of 16.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45.

GATX (NYSE:GATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The transportation company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $449.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $443.67 million. GATX had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 19.15%.GATX’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. GATX has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.500-10.100 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that GATX will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GATX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from GATX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. GATX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GATX

In other GATX news, VP Robert Zmudka sold 5,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.61, for a total value of $1,001,572.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,443,226.73. This represents a 40.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian L. Glassberg sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.29, for a total value of $396,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,396,159.89. The trade was a 22.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 9,795 shares of company stock valued at $1,907,525 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GATX

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of GATX by 270,265.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 640,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $108,674,000 after acquiring an additional 640,528 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of GATX during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $86,241,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of GATX by 681.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 574,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $100,393,000 after acquiring an additional 500,857 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of GATX by 429.5% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 187,835 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,844,000 after acquiring an additional 152,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GATX during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $23,025,000. 93.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About GATX

GATX Corporation (NYSE: GATX) is a global railcar leasing and asset management company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1898 as General American Transportation Corporation, GATX has grown into one of the world’s leading lessors of railcars, marine vessels and industrial assets. The company’s core business focuses on leasing and managing high-value equipment for customers in the energy, industrial, chemical, agricultural and metals markets.

In its Rail North America segment, GATX owns and manages a diverse fleet of more than 60,000 railcars, including tank cars, covered hoppers, boxcars and flatcars.