Vontobel Holding Ltd. Grows Stake in Wabtec $WAB

Key Points

• Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its Wabtec stake by 153.4% in the fourth quarter, buying nearly 99,000 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 163,440 shares worth about $34.9 million.
• Several other hedge funds also boosted positions, and overall institutional ownership remains high at 91.69% of Wabtec shares.
• Wall Street sentiment is largely bullish: analysts have given Wabtec a Moderate Buy consensus with a target price of $289.82, while the stock recently rose 1.1% and the company beat quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $2.71 per share.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Wabtec (NYSE:WAB - Free Report) by 153.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 163,440 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 98,942 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Wabtec worth $34,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its position in Wabtec by 125.9% in the fourth quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 131 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Wabtec by 122.0% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new position in Wabtec in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. BOKF NA raised its position in Wabtec by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 175 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Wabtec in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 91.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAB has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $318.00 price objective on shares of Wabtec in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $303.00 target price on shares of Wabtec in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Wabtec in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Wabtec in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $289.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Rafael Santana sold 60,852 shares of Wabtec stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.89, for a total value of $16,362,494.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 64,341 shares of company stock valued at $17,277,171 in the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wabtec Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE WAB opened at $264.90 on Friday. Wabtec has a 1 year low of $184.26 and a 1 year high of $275.84. The firm has a market cap of $44.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.47, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $262.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.43.

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

Wabtec Announces Dividend

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

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.

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