Stock Alert: Wabtec Corp. (WAB) Trading Close To 52-Week High

(RTTNews) - Shares of Wabtec Corp. (WAB) rose 3.84% on Feb 18, and ended Tuesday's trading session at $80.01, close to its 52-week high of $81.75. The stock has been trading between $61.00 and $81.75 in the past one year. Trading volume surged to 2.05 million versus an average volume of 1.23 million shares.

On Feb. 18, the company reported Q4 net income of $135.7 million or $0.71 per share versus $34.3 million or $0.36 per share last year. Adjusted net income was $200.5 million or $1.04 per share for the fourth quarter of 2019. Net sales rose to $2.37 billion from $1.12 billion in the previous year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.05 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude certain special items.

For the first quarter of 2020, Wabtec anticipates sales, adjusted net income, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted earnings per share to be lower when compared to the remainder of 2020. Wall Street analysts expect earnings of $1.07 per share on revenues of $2.12 billion for the first quarter.

The company noted that the first-quarter outlook is in line with expected first-quarter seasonality and project scheduling, with improvement expected through the rest of the year.

For fiscal 2020, Wabtec forecast adjusted earnings per share between $4.50 and $4.80 and reported sales of about $8.7 billion. The Street expects earnings of $4.65 per share for the year on revenues of $8.61 billion.

Wabtec also said its board of directors has authorized a share buyback program up to $500 million. There is no time limit set for the completion of the program.