Short Interest in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Grows By 18.0%

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 894,200 shares, a growth of 18.0% from the December 31st total of 757,600 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 453,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Five 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.11.

Woodward Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $185.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a PE ratio of 30.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.60. Woodward has a 52-week low of $133.56 and a 52-week high of $201.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The firm had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $810.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Woodward will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were 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 was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total transaction of $1,745,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,008,669.50. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072 in the last ninety days. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Woodward during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Woodward by 101.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 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.