Wabtec $WAB Stock Position Boosted by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) by 11.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 874,061 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,392 shares during the quarter. Wabtec comprises 0.9% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Wabtec were worth $182,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WAB. PFS Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Wabtec by 70.4% during the 2nd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 121 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in shares of Wabtec by 44.2% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 163 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wabtec by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 207 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Wabtec during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wabtec by 30.9% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 309 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WAB shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $231.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Wabtec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wabtec in a research note on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.38.

Wabtec Price Performance

NYSE WAB opened at $197.81 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10. Wabtec has a 52-week low of $151.81 and a 52-week high of $216.10.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. Wabtec had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. Wabtec has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.850-9.050 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Wabtec will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wabtec Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. Wabtec’s dividend payout ratio is 14.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Rafael Santana sold 1,798 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.04, for a total value of $350,681.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 133,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,966,260.32. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gregory Sbrocco sold 2,953 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.43, for a total transaction of $577,104.79. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,484,321.47. The trade was a 14.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,781,345 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Wabtec

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides technology-based locomotives, equipment, systems, and services for the freight rail and passenger transit industries worldwide. It offers diesel-electric, battery, and liquid natural gas-powered locomotives; engines, electric motors, and propulsion systems; and marine and mining products.