Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Garrett Motion (NYSE:GTX)

Garrett Motion Inc. (NYSE:GTX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 11,017 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,201% compared to the average daily volume of 847 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Garrett Motion in a research note on Monday, October 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. BWS Financial raised their target price on shares of Garrett Motion from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Garrett Motion in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Garrett Motion from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Garrett Motion from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $18.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Garrett Motion

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GTX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Garrett Motion by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,304,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,285,000 after buying an additional 62,844 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its position in shares of Garrett Motion by 296.5% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 253,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,119,000 after acquiring an additional 189,300 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Garrett Motion by 138.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 162,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after acquiring an additional 94,501 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Garrett Motion by 113.6% in the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 65,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 34,944 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Garrett Motion in the first quarter worth approximately $358,000. 86.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Garrett Motion Price Performance

Shares of GTX traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $17.40. The stock had a trading volume of 414,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,406,432. Garrett Motion has a 1 year low of $7.01 and a 1 year high of $17.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63 and a beta of 0.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.04 and its 200 day moving average is $13.50.

Garrett Motion (NYSE:GTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. Garrett Motion had a net margin of 8.12% and a negative return on equity of 38.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Garrett Motion will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garrett Motion declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 3rd that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Garrett Motion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Garrett Motion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Garrett Motion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.38%.

About Garrett Motion

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.