Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Co. (NYSE:WAB) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Co. (NYSE:WAB) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $175.30.

WAB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens raised their target price on Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies from $181.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Price Performance

Shares of WAB opened at $199.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies has a 1-year low of $114.45 and a 1-year high of $202.84. The stock has a market cap of $34.26 billion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (NYSE:WAB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.13. Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 10.25%. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

Insider Activity at Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies

In related news, VP David L. Deninno sold 10,000 shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.60, for a total transaction of $1,886,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 55,352 shares in the company, valued at $10,439,387.20. This trade represents a 15.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Mastalerz, Jr. sold 2,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.71, for a total transaction of $558,389.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,951.93. This trade represents a 32.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,393 shares of company stock valued at $9,350,243 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,474,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies in the third quarter valued at $7,128,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies by 5.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 278,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,665,000 after buying an additional 13,683 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies by 59,168.4% during the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 11,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after buying an additional 11,242 shares during the period. Finally, Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies by 4.5% during the third quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 201,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,431,000 after buying an additional 8,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

About Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies

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.