Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Short Interest Up 20.7% in February

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 961,700 shares, a growth of 20.7% from the January 31st total of 796,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 476,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $177.29 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $184.05 and a 200 day moving average of $174.19. The company has a market cap of $10.52 billion, a PE ratio of 29.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. Woodward has a 12-month low of $144.13 and a 12-month high of $201.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s payout ratio is 18.76%.

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.