Junto Capital Management LP Takes Position in Wabtec $WAB

Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 526,732 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,007,000. Wabtec accounts for 2.5% of Junto Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WAB. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Wabtec by 24,510.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 69,374,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $18,703,379,000 after buying an additional 69,092,660 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Wabtec during the second quarter worth approximately $3,741,077,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Wabtec by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,965,503 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,700,238,000 after buying an additional 1,344,744 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Wabtec by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,658,040 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,634,609,000 after acquiring an additional 197,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wabtec by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,366,157 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $928,249,000 after acquiring an additional 38,029 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

Wabtec Stock Performance

Shares of WAB stock opened at $280.88 on Thursday. Wabtec has a 12 month low of $184.26 and a 12 month high of $306.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $284.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.43.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.16. Wabtec had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 10.59%.The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Wabtec has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.600-10.900 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Wabtec will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wabtec Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 18th. Wabtec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael Fetsko sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $952,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 37,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,960,563.60. The trade was a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sameer Gaur sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.64, for a total value of $300,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,302,530.40. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 18,710 shares of company stock worth $5,505,630 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on WAB. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Wabtec from $311.00 to $341.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Wabtec from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stephens boosted their price objective on Wabtec from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Wabtec from $284.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Wabtec from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $313.36.

About Wabtec

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, known as Wabtec, is a global provider of equipment, systems, and services for the freight and transit rail industries. The company develops technologies designed to improve the safety, efficiency, reliability, and environmental performance of rail transportation.

Wabtec’s products and services include locomotives and locomotive components, braking systems, rail-control and signaling technologies, digital train-management solutions, and equipment for freight cars and passenger rail vehicles.