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

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $197.38.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WWD shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total value of $1,864,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,886,305.73. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,309,000 after purchasing an additional 110,569 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 367,300 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Woodward by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,418,123 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $236,004,000 after buying an additional 38,774 shares during the period. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. lifted its position in Woodward by 130.2% in the 4th quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $221,133,000 after buying an additional 751,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $216,771,000 after buying an additional 23,735 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $183.29 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $186.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.70, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward has a 52 week low of $144.45 and a 52 week high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.76%.

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.