Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

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

WWD has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.38.

Woodward Trading Up 0.4 %

WWD opened at $184.59 on Tuesday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. Woodward has a 1-year low of $136.25 and a 1-year high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. Analysts expect that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 18.76%.

Insider Activity

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,093,275.35. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,400 shares of company stock valued at $4,044,868. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 17,072.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,165,000 after purchasing an additional 76,313 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 20.3% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,871 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Woodward by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,588 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 100.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,869 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 6,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.