News

Shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, operating as Wabtec Corporation (WAB), scaled a 52-week high of $139.89 in the trading session on Feb 28, 2024, before closing a tad lower at $139.49.

The company’s shares have gained 19.7% in the past three months compared with the 14.7% rise of the industry it belongs to.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Let’s find out the factors supporting the uptick.

Highlighting its pro-investor stance, Wabtec's management announced a 17.6% increase to its quarterly dividend (concurrent with its fourth-quarter 2023 earnings release on Feb 14, 2024). The new dividend of 20 cents per share will be paid on Mar 8, 2024, to shareholders of record at the close of the business on Feb 23, 2024. The dividend hike raises Wabtec’s annualized cash dividend rate to 80 cents from 68 cents.

Additionally, WAB’s board announced a $1 billion share buyback authorization. WAB has been consistently making efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, which are encouraging. In 2023, WAB rewarded its shareholders through a combination of cash dividends ($123 million) and share repurchases ($409 million). In 2022, WAB rewarded its shareholders through a combination of cash dividends ($111 million) and share repurchases ($473 million). In 2021, WAB rewarded its shareholders through a combination of cash dividends ($92 million) and share repurchases ($300 million). Such shareholder-friendly initiatives not only boost investor confidence but also positively impact the company's bottom line.

The positive sentiment surrounding the stock is evident from the fact that the Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has been revised upward by 2.3% over the past 60 days. Furthermore, WAB has an encouraging track record with respect to earnings surprise, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the past four quarters (missed the mark in the remaining quarter). The average beat is 6.63%. Wabtec has an expected earnings growth rate of 12.16% for the current year.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Wabtec currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the Zacks Transportation sector are GATX Corporation GATX, SkyWest, Inc. SKYW and Copa Holdings, S.A. CPA. Each stock presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

GATX has an encouraging track record with respect to earnings surprise, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters (missing the mark in the remaining one). The average beat is 16.47%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings has been revised 6.1% upward over the past 90 days. GATX has an expected earnings growth rate of 3.68% for 2024. Shares of GATX have gained 13.9% in the past year.

SkyWest's fleet-modernization efforts are commendable. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SKYW’s 2024 earnings has improved 11.1% over the past 90 days. Shares of SKYW have surged 222.2% in the past year.

SKYW has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for 2024. SKYW delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 128.02%, on average.

CPA has an encouraging track record with respect to earnings surprise, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters (missing the mark in the remaining one). The average beat is 18.02%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CPA’s 2024 earnings has been revised 7.1% upward over the past 90 days. Shares of CPA have gained 7.2% in the past year.

Top 5 ChatGPT Stocks Revealed

Zacks Senior Stock Strategist, Kevin Cook names 5 hand-picked stocks with sky-high growth potential in a brilliant sector of Artificial Intelligence. By 2030, the AI industry is predicted to have an internet and iPhone-scale economic impact of $15.7 Trillion.

Today you can invest in the wave of the future, an automation that answers follow-up questions … admits mistakes … challenges incorrect premises … rejects inappropriate requests. As one of the selected companies puts it, “Automation frees people from the mundane so they can accomplish the miraculous.”

Download Free ChatGPT Stock Report Right Now >>

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.