Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised Wabtec's price target from $220.00 to $226.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.58% from the stock's current price, maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• KeyCorp and Susquehanna also increased their target prices for Wabtec recently, with KeyCorp raising its target to $240.00 and Susquehanna to $235.00, reflecting positive sentiment among multiple analysts.
• Wabtec reported earnings of $2.27 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, while its revenue was noted at $2.71 billion, slightly below expectations.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $226.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the transportation company's stock.

WAB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America boosted 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wabtec from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $175.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $201.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Wabtec in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Wabtec in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $221.71.

Wabtec Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:WAB traded up $1.89 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $192.53. The stock had a trading volume of 955,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,070,190. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company has a market cap of $32.91 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.12. Wabtec has a 12-month low of $147.66 and a 12-month high of $216.10. The company's 50 day moving average is $205.51 and its 200-day moving average is $194.30.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.09. Wabtec had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Wabtec will post 8.54 EPS for the current year.

Wabtec Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. Wabtec's payout ratio is currently 14.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wabtec news, insider Rogerio Mendonca sold 4,033 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.04, for a total value of $806,761.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 11,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,307,461.40. This trade represents a 25.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lilian Leroux sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.19, for a total value of $1,441,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,643,573.45. This represents a 35.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 99,474 shares of company stock worth $19,283,505. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wabtec

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Wabtec by 33.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,592,529 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $333,062,000 after purchasing an additional 398,782 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Wabtec by 56.3% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 778,156 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $162,907,000 after purchasing an additional 280,140 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wabtec by 2,220.1% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 738,038 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $133,843,000 after purchasing an additional 706,227 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wabtec by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 439,144 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $91,935,000 after purchasing an additional 35,088 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Wabtec by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 380,793 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $69,057,000 after purchasing an additional 120,057 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.69% of the company's stock.

Wabtec Company Profile

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.