Copeland Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Wabtec $WAB

Key Points

• Copeland Capital Management boosted its Wabtec stake by 861.4% in the first quarter, ending with 46,707 shares valued at about $11.7 million.
• Wabtec’s stock has strong institutional backing, with about 91.69% of shares owned by hedge funds and other institutions, while insiders have recently sold shares, including CEO Rafael Santana.
• The company posted solid fundamentals: quarterly EPS of $2.71 beat estimates, revenue rose 13% year over year, and Wabtec also announced a $0.31 quarterly dividend plus a Moderate Buy analyst consensus with a target price of $293.36.

Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wabtec (NYSE:WAB - Free Report) by 861.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,707 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 41,849 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Wabtec were worth $11,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WAB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Wabtec by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,965,503 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,700,238,000 after buying an additional 1,344,744 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Wabtec by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,658,040 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,634,609,000 after acquiring an additional 197,610 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Wabtec by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,366,157 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $928,249,000 after acquiring an additional 38,029 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in 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 period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Wabtec by 55.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. 91.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wabtec news, insider Sameer Gaur sold 1,082 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.50, for a total value of $285,107.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,158,047.50. The trade was a 8.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Rafael Santana sold 1,163 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.07, for a total transaction of $304,787.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 122,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,212,071.98. The trade was a 0.94% 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 5,734 shares of company stock valued at $1,504,571 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wabtec Price Performance

WAB stock opened at $261.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $44.43 billion, a PE ratio of 37.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Wabtec has a one year low of $184.26 and a one year high of $284.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $264.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.83.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Wabtec had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 10.52%.The company's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. Wabtec has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.250-10.650 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Wabtec will post 10.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wabtec Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Wabtec's dividend payout ratio is 17.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WAB. Stephens upgraded shares of Wabtec to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Wabtec in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 target price (down from $300.00) on shares of Wabtec in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Wabtec from $270.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Wabtec from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $262.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wabtec presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $293.36.

Wabtec 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.

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