Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,001 Shares of GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,622 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,001 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of GATX worth $12,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GATX. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of GATX during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,922,000. EULAV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of GATX by 125.0% in the fourth quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 37,800 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,857,000 after buying an additional 21,000 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in GATX by 209.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 29,602 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,921,000 after buying an additional 20,045 shares in the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in GATX during the third quarter valued at $2,479,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of GATX by 3.8% in 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 in the last quarter. 93.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at GATX

In related news, SVP Jeffery R. Young sold 297 shares of GATX stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $48,895.11. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,362 shares in the company, valued at $1,212,006.06. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Zmudka sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.83, for a total transaction of $786,384.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,578.19. The trade was a 39.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on GATX in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $185.00 price target on the stock. Sidoti downgraded shares of GATX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

GATX Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE GATX opened at $164.78 on Friday. GATX Co. has a fifty-two week low of $122.00 and a fifty-two 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 company has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $159.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.41.

GATX (NYSE:GATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that GATX Co. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

GATX Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a positive change from GATX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. GATX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.