Wabtec $WAB Holdings Trimmed by Valley National Advisers Inc.

Valley National Advisers Inc. decreased its position in shares of Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,068 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 2,090 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Wabtec were worth $2,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wabtec in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wabtec in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Wabtec in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Wabtec in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Eastern Bank increased its position in Wabtec by 103.8% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 163 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on WAB. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $308.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $338.00 to $334.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Wabtec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Wabtec from $315.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.18.

Wabtec Price Performance

Wabtec stock opened at $272.08 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $286.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $276.17. Wabtec has a one year low of $194.93 and a one year high of $306.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $45.65 billion, a PE ratio of 33.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Wabtec Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Wabtec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael Fetsko sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $952,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 37,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,960,563.60. This represents a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rafael Santana sold 1,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.04, for a total transaction of $347,783.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,060,635.52. This represents a 0.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,452 shares of company stock worth $1,903,524. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wabtec Company Profile

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, doing business as Wabtec (NYSE: WAB), is a global provider of equipment, systems, digital solutions and services for the freight and passenger rail industries. The company develops technologies intended to improve the safety, efficiency, reliability and sustainability of rail transportation.

Wabtec’s products and services include locomotives, locomotive components and modernization programs, braking systems, train control and signaling equipment, power and propulsion systems, and advanced digital solutions.