Susquehanna Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) Stock

Key Points

• Wabtec's target price was raised by Susquehanna from $210.00 to $235.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.13% from its previous close.
• In its recent earnings report, Wabtec posted $2.27 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' estimates of $2.18, while its revenue was slightly below expectations at $2.71 billion.
• The stock currently holds an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from various analysts, with five out of seven ratings as a buy.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by equities research analysts at Susquehanna from $210.00 to $235.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "positive" rating on the transportation company's stock. Susquehanna's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 20.93% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on WAB. Bank of America raised their target price 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. lifted their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $175.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wabtec from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued 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 issued a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Wabtec in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wabtec has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $221.71.

Wabtec Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE WAB traded down $2.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $194.32. 1,168,092 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,050,595. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $33.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.12. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $205.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.34. Wabtec has a 12-month low of $147.66 and a 12-month high of $216.10.

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

Insider Activity

In other Wabtec news, VP David L. Deninno sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $603,150.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 60,450 shares in the company, valued at $12,153,472.50. This represents a 4.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Eric Gebhardt sold 6,151 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.39, for a total transaction of $1,244,900.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 18,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,784,085.83. This represents a 24.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 99,474 shares of company stock valued at $19,283,505. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wabtec

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Wabtec by 2,220.1% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 738,038 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $133,843,000 after buying an additional 706,227 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 398,782 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 280,140 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Wabtec in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,547,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.69% of the company's stock.

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.