Swiss National Bank Sells 24,300 Shares of Wabtec $WAB

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in shares of Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) by 4.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 493,229 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 24,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Wabtec were worth $98,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LGT Group Foundation bought a new position in shares of Wabtec in the third quarter worth approximately $403,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Wabtec by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 328,726 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $65,860,000 after buying an additional 14,574 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Wabtec by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,821 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Wabtec by 5.8% during the third quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,473 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,302,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its holdings in Wabtec by 275.3% during the third quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 122,048 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $24,467,000 after acquiring an additional 89,529 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Wabtec in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. 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. Stephens upped their price target on Wabtec from $230.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Susquehanna set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Wabtec in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Wabtec from $224.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.00.

Wabtec Stock Performance

NYSE:WAB opened at $246.53 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $42.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.09, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.99. Wabtec has a 1 year low of $151.81 and a 1 year high of $266.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

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

Wabtec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Wabtec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Wabtec’s payout ratio is 18.16%.

Wabtec announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wabtec news, CFO John A. Olin sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total transaction of $2,896,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 60,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,926,227.10. The trade was a 15.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Rogerio Mendonca sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.21, for a total value of $924,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,668,785.21. The trade was a 25.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 33,192 shares of company stock valued at $8,379,272 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.