Legal & General Group Plc Raises Holdings in Wabtec $WAB

Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,230,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 141,706 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Wabtec were worth $246,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Wabtec by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,930,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,172,532,000 after purchasing an additional 493,437 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wabtec by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,288,014 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $893,830,000 after purchasing an additional 30,489 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Wabtec by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,261,456 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $471,410,000 after purchasing an additional 186,248 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Wabtec by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,974,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $393,252,000 after purchasing an additional 381,728 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Wabtec by 1.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,718,241 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $344,405,000 after buying an additional 19,952 shares in the last quarter. 91.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Wabtec from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wabtec from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Susquehanna set a $300.00 target price on Wabtec in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Wabtec from $224.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Wabtec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.00.

Wabtec Stock Performance

WAB opened at $245.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $41.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.01, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.99. Wabtec has a 52-week low of $151.81 and a 52-week high of $266.27. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $241.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.73.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.02. Wabtec had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 14.12%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. Wabtec has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.050-10.450 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Wabtec will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wabtec Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is an increase from Wabtec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Wabtec’s payout ratio is currently 18.16%.

Wabtec announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wabtec

In other news, insider Michael Fetsko sold 5,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.72, for a total value of $1,091,111.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,882 shares in the company, valued at $7,956,185.04. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John A. Olin sold 11,000 shares of Wabtec stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total value of $2,896,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 60,487 shares in the company, valued at $15,926,227.10. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,355 shares of company stock valued at $8,661,997. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Wabtec

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.