Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $174.67.

WWD has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $164.04 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.37. Woodward has a 12 month low of $119.03 and a 12 month high of $188.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.29 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Woodward by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,711 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its stake in Woodward by 99.1% in the 1st quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 4,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 2,190 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at about $332,000. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at about $698,000. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Woodward by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,810 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.