DETROIT, Mich.–Shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies, or Wabtec (WAB – Get Report) , slid nearly 6% on Monday after the company received an analyst downgrade on weaker-than-anticipated North American freight rail fundamentals.
Shares of Wabtec fell 5.98%, or $4.35, to $68.41 on the New York Stock Exchange after Buckingham analyst Matthew Brooklier downgraded the stock to neutral from buy and lowered his 12-month price target to $81 from $93.
Brooklier points to weaker North American freight rail fundamentals as among the causes putting downward pressure in Wabtec’s freight operations, which could result in earnings disappointments over the next 12 months.
Wabtec was formed in 1999 by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company and MotivePower Industries Corporation. The company operates two lines of business: a freight portfolio, which includes locomotives, software applications and delivery control systems, and a transit portfolio that encompasses freight cars, passenger transit vehicles and marine engines.
The company merged with GE Transportation this past February in an $11 billion deal.
