Mount Lucas Management LP Makes New $244,000 Investment in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Mount Lucas Management LP acquired a new position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 1,402 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WWD. Truist Financial upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Woodward presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.11.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $159.41 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $166.41 and a 200 day moving average of $164.55. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.03 and a 52-week high of $188.35.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The firm had revenue of $847.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

About Woodward

Woodward, Inc designs, manufactures, and services control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Industrial. The Aerospace segment provides fuel pumps, metering units, actuators, air valves, specialty valves, fuel nozzles, and thrust reverser actuation systems for turbine engines and nacelles, and flight deck controls, actuators, servocontrols, motors, and sensors for aircraft.