Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WWD. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Down 8.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $174.90 on Thursday. Woodward has a 12-month low of $144.45 and a 12-month high of $201.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, 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 was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $2,855,506.50. The trade was a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444 over the last three months. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $465,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 135.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,547,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,275,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Woodward by 105.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,717 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.