Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on WWD. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $184.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.40. Woodward has a twelve month low of $133.56 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $179.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.55.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Woodward will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total value of $1,745,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,008,669.50. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Woodward by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,309,000 after purchasing an additional 110,569 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,321,000 after purchasing an additional 59,290 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Woodward by 135.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. bought a new position in Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at $99,000,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Woodward by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 502,067 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,554,000 after acquiring an additional 19,868 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.