WABTEC provides equipment and services to the railway industry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabtec
from the company website
Locations
About 40 manufacturing plants, service centers and sales offices in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia, Australia and South America
Employees
About 6,000
Markets
Freight and passenger rail, transit, power generation, off-highway equipment and industrial
Products
Brake subsystems and related products for locomotives, freight cars and passenger transit vehicles; electronic train-control equipment; new switcher and commuter locomotives; coupling, door control and air conditioning systems for transit vehicles; and heat-exchange equipment for rail, marine, power generation, off-highway and industrial applications
Services
Locomotive overhauls and fleet maintenance; supplier-managed inventory; component repair, upgrade and reconditioning
What attracted me to the sector was the macro picture.Rising fuel costs are very bullish for railways as they are much cheaper than road or air transport.This company supplies the railways and its fortunes are tied at the hip to the industry performance.
Now digging into the financials
the PE is not cheap at 18.68 with a forward PE of 15,the EV/EBIDTA is 9.586.The ROE is high at 20.49% and ROA is 11.06%.Another attraction is the low debt equity ratio of 0.236.The share had run up quite a bit up 18% and has a high short ratio of 9.So we might see the stock taking a breather.A possible catalyst is the anxiety about rising input costs.But Jim Jubak in his journal had mentioned that WABTEC is one company that may be able to pass on the increased costs arising from rising steel prices.
Trivia
When I started researching WABTEC I realised how little I knew about trains
The products they make
1.An airbrake uses compressed air to stop the train.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/97/Brake_Diagram.p...
2.a coupler connects adjoining locomotives
http://visual.merriam-webster.com/transport-machinery/rail-tr...
3.air compressor
http://visual.merriam-webster.com/transport-machinery/rail-tr...
$48.61 (07/01/08)
