Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $307.96 and last traded at $305.1350, with a volume of 64,703 shares. The stock had previously closed at $303.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Wabtec from $318.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Wabtec from $338.00 to $334.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Wabtec from $284.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on Wabtec from $293.00 to $292.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Wabtec from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wabtec currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.90.

Wabtec Trading Down 1.1%

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $285.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $270.54. The company has a market cap of $50.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The transportation company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. Wabtec had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 11.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wabtec will post 10.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wabtec Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Wabtec’s payout ratio is 15.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gregory Sbrocco sold 952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $285,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,900. This represents a 4.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Rafael Santana sold 1,087 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.79, for a total transaction of $317,175.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 116,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,892,867.45. The trade was a 0.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,289 shares of company stock valued at $1,555,741. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAB. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wabtec in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,741,077,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Wabtec by 2.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,905,748 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,131,390,000 after buying an additional 164,806 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in Wabtec by 620.8% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,809,470 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $519,644,000 after buying an additional 1,558,445 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Wabtec by 43.9% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,580,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $426,216,000 after buying an additional 482,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Wabtec by 2.4% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,424,945 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $384,165,000 after buying an additional 33,942 shares during the last quarter. 91.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Wabtec

Wabtec Corporation (NYSE: WAB), also known as Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies, supplies equipment, systems and services for the freight rail and passenger transit industries. Its products include locomotives, braking and train control systems, propulsion equipment, and components designed to support rail safety and performance. The company also provides aftermarket services, including maintenance, modernization, parts and digital solutions for rail operators. Its offerings serve freight railroads, transit agencies and other customers in the global rail industry.