Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $189.78.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WWD shares. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $226.00 price objective (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Woodward Stock Up 2.2 %

Woodward stock opened at $182.11 on Thursday. Woodward has a 1-year low of $131.69 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $174.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,044,929.15. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the business’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 directly owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072. 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 the company. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Woodward by 101.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $69,000. 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.