Finance/Leasing

Takeaways, Locomotive and Railcar Conference Call: Cowen

According to Cowen and Company freight transportation analysts Jason Seidl (Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor), Matt Elkott and Adam Kramer, inquiries about new railcars appear to have risen slightly in the past month, while locomotive modernizations should remain solid, in the midst of a continuing weak new-build market. Industry-wide Precision Scheduled Railroading implementation has not been tested in a volume growth environment.

CNGMotive Moves to the Next Level

Following seven years of painstaking research and development, CNGMotive, Inc., has rolled out the rail industry’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) locomotive fuel tender. The company co-founded in 2015 by David I. Scott and Pedro Santos has partnered with Norfolk Southern for a revenue service test. Kasgro Rail Corp. of New Castle, Pa., best known for building and operating Schnabel railcars, constructed the tender, which externally looks something like a combination of an intermodal well car and hi-cube boxcar. The Hale Hamilton Valves Ltd. business unit of U.K.-based CIRCOR provided the CNG pressure reduction and control systems.

Rail Equipment Positioning Amid a Market Selloff: Cowen

A looming U.S. economic recession—just look at freight rail traffic figures from the past six months—and “cyclical industrial fears” have significantly impacted rail equipment equities, creating opportunities for long-term investors with what Cowen and Company analysts Matt Elkott, Jason Seidl (Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor) and Adam Kramer describe as “quality companies with self-forged narratives” like Wabtec, Trinity and Greenbrier.

Wabtec Offering Additional GE Shares

Wabtec Corp. recently filed a 20,485,156 share offering of GE, and expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,048,515 shares. Wabtec said it will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares in the offering.

LRW Accepting 2019 Outstanding Member of the Year Nominations

The League of Railway Women (LRW) has opened nominations for the 2019 “Outstanding Member of the Year” award. The recipient will be recognized during the LRW Annual Membership Meeting to be held on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at Railway Interchange in Minneapolis. LRW corporate partners and individual members are eligible.

Cowen: Shipper surveys say …

Two 2Q19 surveys of rail shippers on pricing/service quality and equipment needs conducted by Cowen and Company analysts Jason Seidl (Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor), Matt Elkott and Adam Kramer indicate that, compared to 1Q19, Class I railroad customers are anticipating somewhat lower rate increases, and little change in demand for new railcars.

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