Garrett Motion (NYSE:GTX) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Garrett Motion Inc. (NYSE:GTX) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $16.46, but opened at $17.22. Garrett Motion shares last traded at $16.9120, with a volume of 583,837 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BWS Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Garrett Motion in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Garrett Motion in a research note on Monday, October 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $20.00 price target on Garrett Motion in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Garrett Motion from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Garrett Motion currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $16.50.

Garrett Motion Stock Up 0.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $15.37 and its 200-day moving average is $13.10.

Garrett Motion (NYSE:GTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. Garrett Motion had a negative return on equity of 38.75% and a net margin of 8.12%.Garrett Motion’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Garrett Motion Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Garrett Motion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a boost from Garrett Motion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Garrett Motion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.38%.

Garrett Motion declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Cyrus Capital Partners, L.P. sold 350,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.28, for a total transaction of $4,655,516.48. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,009,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,732,069.60. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 613,403 shares of company stock worth $8,133,314 over the last quarter. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Garrett Motion

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Garrett Motion by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 7,715,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,090,000 after acquiring an additional 2,605,296 shares during the period. Gates Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Garrett Motion by 53.1% in the first quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,795,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,879,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,294 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Garrett Motion in the third quarter valued at $58,247,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Garrett Motion by 40.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,189,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,065,000 after buying an additional 1,205,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Garrett Motion by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,186,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,390,000 after buying an additional 70,155 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.27% of the company’s stock.

Garrett Motion Company Profile

Garrett Motion Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells turbocharging, air and fluid compression, and high-speed electric motor technologies for original equipment manufacturers and distributors worldwide. The company offers cutting-edge technology for the mobility and industrial space, including light vehicles, commercial vehicles, and industrial applications.