Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $329.00 to $345.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Woodward traded as high as $304.72 and last traded at $302.80, with a volume of 141440 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $300.03.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WWD. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Woodward by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,388,758 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $603,663,000 after purchasing an additional 80,538 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 2.3% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 2,193,238 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $400,244,000 after buying an additional 49,481 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,403,551 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $354,691,000 after acquiring an additional 8,307 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Woodward by 5.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,092,257 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $199,326,000 after purchasing an additional 51,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 122.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 905,578 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $228,849,000 after buying an additional 497,722 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $18.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $260.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

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

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.58%.

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

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.