ABN Amro Investment Solutions Grows Stake in Wabtec $WAB

ABN Amro Investment Solutions grew its holdings in Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 99,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,201 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions’ holdings in Wabtec were worth $21,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Wabtec by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,304,183 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $662,390,000 after acquiring an additional 116,329 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Wabtec by 55.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,069,340 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $659,939,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,083 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Wabtec by 1.9% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,304,832 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $462,057,000 after acquiring an additional 43,376 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $442,056,000 after acquiring an additional 896,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Wabtec by 1.2% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,718,241 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $344,405,000 after acquiring an additional 19,952 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $270.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Wabtec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $230.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Wabtec from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $262.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wabtec currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $289.82.

Insider Transactions at Wabtec

In related news, insider Nalin Jain sold 7,936 shares of Wabtec stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.09, for a total value of $2,095,818.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,364 shares in the company, valued at $1,680,668.76. This trade represents a 55.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Rafael Santana sold 60,852 shares of Wabtec stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.89, for a total transaction of $16,362,494.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 128,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,613,940.81. This trade represents a 32.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 90,777 shares of company stock worth $24,141,475 over the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wabtec Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of WAB stock opened at $259.30 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $256.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.88. Wabtec has a twelve month low of $184.26 and a twelve month high of $275.84.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.09. Wabtec had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 10.52%.The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Wabtec has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.250-10.650 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Wabtec will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Wabtec Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. Wabtec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.54%.

Wabtec declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.