Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives $152.89 Average Price Target from Analysts

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $152.89.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Woodward from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,242,916. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Woodward by 79.3% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 199 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Woodward in the second quarter worth about $28,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Woodward in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD opened at $149.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $145.32 and its 200-day moving average is $136.59. Woodward has a 52-week low of $91.42 and a 52-week high of $160.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.65.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. Woodward had a net margin of 9.50% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The business had revenue of $786.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Woodward will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Woodward’s payout ratio is 21.10%.

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.