Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Strong Earnings

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $293.50 and last traded at $286.37, with a volume of 184275 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $261.18.

The technology company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.26. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The firm had revenue of $995.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $943.15 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.72%.

Woodward announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.80 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $329.00 target price on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research downgraded Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $272.00.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,121,680.16. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WWD. Harvest Investment Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth $2,340,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 35,704 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,781,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the period. Williamson Legacy Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $765,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Woodward during the third quarter worth $2,234,000. Finally, Untitled Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at about $16,149,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $17.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $255.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.28.

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.