Triton (TRTN) Beats On Q1 Earnings Despite Seasonal Softness

Triton International Limited’s (NYSE:TRTN) first-quarter 2019 adjusted earnings per share of $1.19 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.06 and also improved 20.2% year over year. High utilization and strong used container sale prices aided results.

Quarterly revenues of $341 million fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $355 million. However, the top line was up 8.2% year over year, primarily owing to 6.5% growth in revenues from operating leases.

The company generated a return on equity of 17.2% in the reported quarter as compared to 15.4% a year ago. However, total operating expenses increased 5.3% to $169.46 million.

Equipment trading revenues of $17.83 million surged more than 33.3% from the year-ago quarter. Trading margin in the quarter under review came in at approximately $3.59 million compared with $3 million in the year-ago period.

The company exited the firstquarter with utilization of 97.6% although container pick-up volumes were slow during the quarter due to seasonal sluggishness. Moreover, as of Apr 22, 2019, the company purchased 5.1 million shares under the share buyback plan cleared last August. Additionally, the company’s board has announced a new buyback program worth $200 million.

Dividends

The company’s board has announced a quarterly cash dividend of 52 cents per share, payable Jun 27 to shareholders of record as of Jun 6.

The company’s board has also announced a cash dividend of 53.13 cents per share on its 8.5% Series A Preferred Shares, payable Jun 17 to shareholders of record as of Jun 10.

Outlook

With trade growth expected to be moderate throughout the year and leasing activity anticipated to ramp up into the second quarter, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company expects adjusted net income per share for the second quarter of 2019 to decrease slightly on a sequential basis. For the rest of the year, adjusted income per share is projected to increase. Leasing revenues are estimated to suffer a negative impact in the near term on account of certain initiatives taken by the company for long-term growth.

You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Upcoming Releases

Investors interested in the broader Transportation sector are keenly awaiting first-quarter earnings reports from key players like Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPD) , Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) and Hertz Global Holdings, Inc (NYSE:HTZ) . While Hertz Global will report first-quarter earnings on May 6, Expeditors and Air Lease will announce the same on May 7 and May 9, respectively.

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