Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives $187.44 Average PT from Analysts

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $187.44.

WWD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $226.00 price target (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $168.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.61. Woodward has a 1-year low of $131.12 and a 1-year high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. Woodward’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Woodward in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 101.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.