Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WWD. Zacks Research cut Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Woodward from $294.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $300.00 target price on shares of Woodward and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.22.

Woodward Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of WWD stock opened at $300.29 on Friday. Woodward has a 1-year low of $146.82 and a 1-year high of $303.07. The company has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.51, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $260.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.69.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $995.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $943.15 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.80 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Woodward during the second quarter valued at approximately $201,555,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $184,721,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 122.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 905,578 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $228,849,000 after buying an additional 497,722 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 1,086.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 330,514 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,524,000 after acquiring an additional 302,666 shares during the period. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth $73,406,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.