Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WWD. Barclays upped their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Four equities 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, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $190.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a PE ratio of 31.98, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $180.60 and its 200 day moving average is $171.13. Woodward has a fifty-two week low of $134.82 and a fifty-two week high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 16.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total transaction of $1,795,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,066,684.94. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,400 shares of company stock worth $5,844,768. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Woodward by 26.5% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,825 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,575 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 850 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Woodward by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during 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.