Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD – Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Alembic Global Advisors raised Woodward from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the company from $111.00 to $127.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Wolfe Research lowered Woodward from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Woodward from $76.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Woodward from $88.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Monday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Woodward from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $107.00.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $89.39 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $102.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.64. Woodward has a twelve month low of $79.26 and a twelve month high of $129.12. The stock has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.51, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.11). Woodward had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $619.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $599.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Woodward will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship purchased 500 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $97.61 per share, for a total transaction of $48,805.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,523 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,940.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship purchased 500 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $97.61 per share, for a total transaction of $48,805.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,523 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,940.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronald M. Sega sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total value of $208,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,656. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Woodward by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,555,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in Woodward by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,310 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Woodward by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,707 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,726 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, East Coast Asset Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. East Coast Asset Management LLC. now owns 31,882 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,559,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.74% of the company’s stock.

About Woodward

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Woodward, Inc engages in the provision of control system solutions and components for the aerospace and industrial markets. It operates through the following segments: Aerospace and Industrial. The Aerospace segment designs, manufactures and services systems and products for the management of fuel, air and combustion and motion control.