Wabtec $WAB Stock Purchased by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) by 620.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,809,470 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,558,445 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Wabtec were worth $519,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WAB. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Wabtec in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Latitude Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wabtec in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Wabtec during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Wabtec during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its holdings in shares of Wabtec by 103.8% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 163 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WAB. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Wabtec from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Wabtec from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Wabtec from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Wabtec from $284.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Wabtec from $308.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.90.

Wabtec Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAB opened at $297.68 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $286.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $270.87. Wabtec has a twelve month low of $194.93 and a twelve month high of $307.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Wabtec Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. Wabtec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.40%.

Insider Transactions at Wabtec

In other news, EVP Gregory Sbrocco sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $285,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,312,900. The trade was a 4.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael Fetsko sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $952,965.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 37,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,960,563.60. This represents a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 5,289 shares of company stock worth $1,555,741 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Wabtec

Wabtec Corporation (NYSE: WAB), also known as Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies, supplies equipment, systems and services for the freight rail and passenger transit industries. Its products include locomotives, braking and train control systems, propulsion equipment, and components designed to support rail safety and performance. The company also provides aftermarket services, including maintenance, modernization, parts and digital solutions for rail operators. Its offerings serve freight railroads, transit agencies and other customers in the global rail industry.