Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $140.00 to $175.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Woodward traded as high as $173.13 and last traded at $173.13, with a volume of 55658 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $168.83.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on WWD. StockNews.com lowered shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total transaction of $1,002,060.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,914,324.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total value of $1,002,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,914,324.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,200 shares of company stock valued at $8,244,976 in the last three months. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 79.3% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 199 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Woodward in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Up 2.6 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $150.93 and a 200 day moving average of $140.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $10.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.27, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $807.04 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

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.