Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $1.05 Million Stake in GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) by 40.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,799 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,960 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in GATX were worth $1,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Xponance Inc. increased its position in GATX by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,058 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in GATX by 150.8% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 14,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 8,673 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in GATX during the 4th quarter worth $517,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in GATX by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 179,892 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,876,000 after buying an additional 12,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of GATX by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 66,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,305,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 93.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

GATX Stock Performance

Shares of GATX stock opened at $155.94 on Friday. GATX Co. has a 52 week low of $122.00 and a 52 week high of $168.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 3.41 and a current ratio of 2.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $160.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.39.

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

GATX Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. This is a boost from GATX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. GATX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.40%.

Insider Activity at GATX

In other news, SVP Jeffery R. Young sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $48,895.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,362 shares in the company, valued at $1,212,006.06. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.83, for a total transaction of $786,384.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,227,578.19. This represents a 39.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

GATX 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.