GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) by 30.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,623 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 36,778 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of GATX worth $10,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of GATX by 2.2% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,118,084 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $412,710,000 after purchasing an additional 68,243 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in GATX by 4.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 869,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $115,106,000 after purchasing an additional 40,924 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in GATX by 16.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 831,625 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,074,000 after purchasing an additional 120,149 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in GATX by 1.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 378,274 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,686 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in GATX by 0.3% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 370,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,632,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.14% of the company’s stock.

GATX Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of GATX stock opened at $151.53 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $138.40 and a 200-day moving average of $136.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 3.41. The company has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 0.95. GATX Co. has a 1-year low of $106.92 and a 1-year high of $156.03.

GATX (NYSE:GATX) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $405.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.65 million. GATX had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 17.76%. The company’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that GATX Co. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GATX Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. GATX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Farm Mutual Automobile I. State purchased 8,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $133.65 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $442,688,093.10. This trade represents a 0.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.