Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on WWD. Truist Financial increased their target price on Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “reduce” rating on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price target on shares of Woodward and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.00.

Woodward Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of WWD stock opened at $190.49 on Tuesday. Woodward has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The company has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.82.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.61 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 18.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total value of $536,256.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,216.80. This represents a 11.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,700 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,700 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Woodward by 191.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 166 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 2,314.3% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Woodward by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.