Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Boosts Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 124.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,587 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 31,878 shares during the quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC owned about 0.10% of Woodward worth $10,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 4,177.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD stock opened at $170.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.96. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.03 and a fifty-two week high of $188.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $163.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.87. The company has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.37.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The firm had revenue of $847.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.11.

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.