Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Co. (NYSE:WAB) has been receiving positive recommendations from nine analysts who are currently covering the company. Bloomberg Ratings reports that four of them have given a hold rating, while the other five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The consensus recommendation for Westinghouse is a “Moderate Buy”, with an average 12-month price objective of $111.83 from brokers who have issued ratings on the stock over the last year.
On February 15th, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies reported its quarterly earnings data which showed impressive results that met the consensus estimate of $1.30 earnings per share (EPS). The company’s revenue for the quarter was also up by 11.2% when compared to the same quarter last year, and it had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 7.57%. All these factors are contributing towards making WAB a lucrative option in today’s market.
The transportation company has recently become more attractive to institutional investors including hedge funds, with many of them making changes to their positions in Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies’ stocks over recent months. Institutional investment firms such as Gibson Wealth Advisors LLC have increased their position by as much as 6,350%, showing strong interest in what WAB has to offer.
Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp., Everence Capital Management Inc., Eudaimonia Partners LLC and others have all acquired new stakes in Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies. These acquisitions range from $30,000 to $366,000 revealing faith in potential growth opportunities offered by this company.
Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division has lifted its position by as much as 3.5% in Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies due to its impressive operating results thus far.
It is clear that the transportation industry represents significant opportunity for investors and with companies like WAB expected to continue to deliver strong and attractive business propositions, their stock will likely see more attention from investors looking for solid returns on their investments.
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Receives Positive Analyst Reports and Shares Rise
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies has recently been the focus of several analysts issuing reports on the company, including increases in price objectives and ratings upgrades. The transportation company has received an “overweight” rating from Stephens, Bank of America, and KeyCorp, while StockNews.com issued a “buy” rating. Morgan Stanley gave Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies an “equal weight” rating. These reports have impacted the stock’s opening at $99.36 on Thursday, with a market cap of $17.92 billion.
Institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock, with hedge funds owning 89.47% of the shares. Gibson Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position by 6,350% in the fourth quarter while Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its position by 3.5% in the third quarter.
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies also recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.17 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.68%. The CEO Rafael Santana sold 78,277 shares of the firm’s stock for a total transaction value of $8,201,864.06 in February.
Despite these recent developments and movements within Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies’ stock prices and investor activity, it is important to note that it has a P/E ratio of 28.80 and a PEG ratio of 1.54 with a beta of 1.48 as well as its current ratio and debt-to-equity ratio figures.
Overall, there are many factors that can impact the performance of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies moving forward; however analysts predict growth to continue for some time to come based on current trends and announcements made by institutional investors about their holdings in this company’s shares over recent months suggesting optimism around future prospects before any big decisions or announcements affect that perception one way or another!
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