Saturday, August 09, 2008

GATX Corp.: An Interesting Prospect

GATX (GMT) is in the news for its proposed $3.5B purchase of GE Rail Services. Consolidation in rail car leasing bears watching, and is probably a smart move going into an economic downturn. GATX is IMHO looking to position itself as a dominant player when this downturn ends, and in the meantime the high price of oil makes rail movement more economical.

GATX's key fundamentals look enticing. Their 5-year EPS growth is in the neighborhood of 47%, and their 5-year ROE is almost 13%. The ROE isn't as high as I'd like for an investment, but this year's ROE of almost 17% may point to an upward trend.

GATX deserves further scrutiny. I need a good transportation-oriented play that will survive this sovereignty crunch.

Nota bene: Anthony J. Alfidi does not hold any position in GMT at the time of publication of this commentary.