Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

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

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Woodward from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price target for the stock from $197.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Woodward from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised Woodward from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $177.11.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $162.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.04. Woodward has a 1-year low of $119.03 and a 1-year high of $188.35.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $847.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.29 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. Woodward’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Woodward will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd 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 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at $84,157,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Woodward by 94.2% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $75,735,000 after buying an additional 210,746 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 12.3% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,345,438 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $207,359,000 after acquiring an additional 147,856 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 524,683 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,425,000 after acquiring an additional 143,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,915 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $899,431,000 after acquiring an additional 77,654 shares in 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.