Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Releases FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Monday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 7.500-8.000 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 7.730. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.8 billion-$4.0 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.8 billion.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock traded down $1.52 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $261.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 970,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 517,590. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a PE ratio of 41.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward has a fifty-two week low of $146.82 and a fifty-two week high of $274.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $244.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. 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 net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WWD. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. 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 research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research set a $300.00 target price on shares of Woodward and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was 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 $5,121,680.16. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Woodward by 2.8% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 27,688 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,786,000 after buying an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 30.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 23,792 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,831,000 after purchasing an additional 5,615 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $893,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 0.6% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 82,006 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,099,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 23.2% in the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 53,413 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,091,000 after purchasing an additional 10,043 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.