Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $228.88.

WWD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Truist Financial set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th.

Woodward Stock Performance

Woodward stock opened at $248.82 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $218.05 and a 200-day moving average of $193.01. The firm has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $248.84.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 16.86%. Woodward’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 18.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 500 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 49,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,958,480. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total transaction of $536,256.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,216.80. The trade was a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,250 shares of company stock valued at $9,035,789 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WWD. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 130.2% during the fourth quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $221,133,000 after purchasing an additional 751,541 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,220,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 44,162.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 472,284 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,187,000 after acquiring an additional 471,217 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $253,175,000 after acquiring an additional 367,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,187,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Company Profile

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.