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

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $231.94 and last traded at $232.9650, with a volume of 94398 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $227.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Wabtec from $257.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wabtec in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Wabtec from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Wabtec from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Wabtec from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wabtec currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.00.

Wabtec Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $39.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $214.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.44.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. Wabtec had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 10.94%.Wabtec’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wabtec will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO John A. Mastalerz, Jr. sold 2,766 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $580,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,060. This represents a 34.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael Fetsko sold 5,058 shares of Wabtec stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.72, for a total transaction of $1,091,111.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,956,185.04. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,916 shares of company stock worth $7,090,420. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wabtec

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Wabtec by 2.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,930,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,172,532,000 after buying an additional 493,437 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wabtec by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,288,014 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $893,830,000 after purchasing an additional 30,489 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Wabtec by 3.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,304,183 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $662,390,000 after purchasing an additional 116,329 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Wabtec by 55.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,069,340 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $659,939,000 after buying an additional 1,095,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in Wabtec by 1.9% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,304,832 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $462,057,000 after buying an additional 43,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

Wabtec Company Profile

Wabtec Corporation (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation) is a global provider of equipment, systems and services for the rail industry. The company supplies products and solutions to freight railroads, transit agencies and other industrial operators, focusing on technologies that improve the performance, safety and efficiency of locomotives and rail networks. Wabtec’s business spans new equipment manufacturing, aftermarket parts and services, and digital and control systems for rail operations.

Product and service offerings include locomotive systems and components, braking and air systems, propulsion and traction equipment, signaling and control technologies, and a range of aftermarket services such as maintenance, remanufacturing, parts distribution and fleet modernization.