Short Interest in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Decreases By 21.0%

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 757,600 shares, a decline of 21.0% from the December 15th total of 959,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 449,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.11.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD stock opened at $187.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89. Woodward has a one year low of $133.56 and a one year high of $201.64. The firm has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. Woodward’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total transaction of $1,818,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,093,275.35. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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 approximately $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 8.0% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Woodward by 136.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 68,877 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,011,000 after purchasing an additional 39,732 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Woodward by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 128,116 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $22,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,122 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 0.9% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 64,384 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,227,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 22.5% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 8,234 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,436,000 after buying an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.