Railcar Maker Has Three Different Insiders Sell Shares within Short Period
Greenbrier Companies Inc. (NYSE:GBX) has seen three different insiders offload shares thus far in April. To start with, Alejandro Centurion, Executive Vice President and President of Global Manufacturing Operations, sold 5,000 shares on Wednesday and 5,000 shares on Friday at a weighted average price of $31.84, which reduced his ownership to 13,194 shares. Moreover, Lorie L. Tekorius, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, unloaded 1,355 units of common stock last Tuesday for $31.23 each, after which Ms. Tekorius owns 17,706 units. Lastly, James T. Sharp, Executive Vice President and President of Greenbrier Leasing Corporation, sold 5,000 shares on April 8 at exactly $31 apiece, cutting his holding to a mere 3,668 shares.
The railcar manufacturer primarily operates its business through four segments: Manufacturing, which involves the production of double-stack intermodal railcars, tank cars, conventional railcars, automotive railcar products and marine vessels; Wheels & Parts, which provides wheel and axle servicing, and produces various parts for the railroad industry; Leasing & Services, which owns 9,400 railcars and provides management services for 257,000 railcars for railroads, shippers, carriers and other companies; and GBW Joint Venture, which provides repair services at more than 30 locations on the North American continent. Shares of Greenbrier Companies have declined by 51% in the past 12 months, as the railway industry has been hit by lower shipments of crude oil, coal and loads of fracking sand used to drill new wells.
The company’s shares have gained 46% in the past three months, which may have prompted the insiders might to diversify their holdings as the struggling energy sector continues to put pressure on the company’s financial performance. Greenbrier Companies registered revenue of $1.47 billion for the six months that ended February 29, up from $1.13 billion reported for the same period of the previous fiscal year. The 30.8% increase in the company’s top-line figure was mainly driven by a 25% increase in the volume of railcar deliveries, which included a mix that led to a higher average selling price. Moreover, revenue was also spurred by a 193.8% increase in Leasing & Services revenue due to an increase in the sale of railcars purchased last year. It is important to note though that 83% of the company’s backlog of railcar units, which was roughly 34,100 units at the end of February, was non-energy related.
The shares of the railcar maker are currently trading at 8.8-times expected earnings, below the forward P/E multiple of 10.0 for competitor GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT) and the ratio of 11.5 for Trinity Industries Inc. (NYSE:TRN). The number of hedge fund vehicles in our system with stakes in Greenbrier increased to 21 from 17 during the December quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management owned 633,026 shares of Greenbrier Companies Inc. (NYSE:GBX) on December 31.
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