Wabtec $WAB Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 190,055 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,574 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Wabtec were worth $40,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allegheny Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of Wabtec in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wabtec in the 4th quarter valued at about $405,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Wabtec in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,507,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Wabtec by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,990 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wabtec by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 16,954 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the period. 91.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Wabtec

In other Wabtec news, EVP Gina Trombley sold 4,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.87, for a total transaction of $970,624.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,347,722.67. This trade represents a 22.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Rafael Santana sold 60,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 128,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,613,940.81. The trade was a 32.10% decrease in their position. 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 93,527 shares of company stock worth $24,829,287 over the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Wabtec from $283.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $318.00 price objective on shares of Wabtec in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $303.00 price objective on shares of Wabtec in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wabtec in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Wabtec from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wabtec presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.82.

Wabtec Stock Performance

NYSE WAB opened at $265.57 on Friday. Wabtec has a 1-year low of $184.26 and a 1-year high of $275.84. The company has a market capitalization of $45.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $255.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.72. 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 (NYSE:WAB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.09. Wabtec had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 10.52%.The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. Wabtec’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Wabtec has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.250-10.650 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Wabtec will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wabtec announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.