Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $226.00 price objective (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.44.

Woodward Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $183.84 on Monday. Woodward has a 12 month low of $131.12 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The company has a market cap of $10.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.08.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The business had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. Woodward’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Woodward will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.64%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total transaction of $1,776,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,044,929.15. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 47,913 shares of company stock valued at $8,502,604 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,547,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 9,897 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,321,000 after buying an additional 59,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Woodward by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 28,734 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,928,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.