Wabtec $WAB Position Lifted by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) by 897.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,502 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,948 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Wabtec were worth $3,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WAB. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Wabtec by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,069,340 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $659,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,083 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Wabtec by 68.6% in the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,205,098 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $442,056,000 after purchasing an additional 896,900 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Wabtec by 194.2% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,033,304 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $207,146,000 after purchasing an additional 682,048 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in Wabtec in the second quarter valued at about $121,612,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Wabtec by 76.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,229,270 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $245,534,000 after buying an additional 532,121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Wabtec

In other news, CFO John A. Olin sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total transaction of $2,896,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 60,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,926,227.10. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gina Trombley sold 4,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.87, for a total transaction of $970,624.31. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,347,722.67. This trade represents a 22.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 31,512 shares of company stock valued at $8,160,028 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAB. Wolfe Research upgraded Wabtec from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $290.00 target price (down from $300.00) on shares of Wabtec in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna set a $300.00 price target on Wabtec in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wabtec in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Wabtec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $272.08.

Wabtec Stock Performance

Shares of WAB stock opened at $250.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $42.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.60, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $246.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.68. Wabtec has a 52 week low of $151.81 and a 52 week high of $266.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.86 billion. Wabtec had a return on equity of 14.12% and a net margin of 10.48%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. Wabtec has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.050-10.450 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wabtec will post 8.54 EPS for the current year.

Wabtec announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wabtec Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Wabtec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Wabtec’s dividend payout ratio is 18.16%.

About Wabtec

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.