Weekly Research Analysts’ Ratings Updates for Woodward (WWD)

Woodward (NASDAQ: WWD) recently received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms:

• 5/6/2024 – Woodward had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $140.00 to $175.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 4/30/2024 – Woodward had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $143.00 to $152.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 4/30/2024 – Woodward had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $156.00 to $172.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 4/30/2024 – Woodward had its price target raised by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $182.00 to $200.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/16/2024 – Woodward had its price target raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from $159.00 to $201.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/4/2024 – Woodward had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $151.00 to $156.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $176.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.78. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $105.18 and a 1-year high of $177.58. The stock has a market cap of $10.75 billion, a PE ratio of 30.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company had revenue of $835.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $677,040. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,836 shares in the company, valued at $677,040. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total value of $1,002,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,914,324.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,200 shares of company stock worth $8,244,976 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WWD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,758,261 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $783,872,000 after purchasing an additional 37,011 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 6.3% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,062,665 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $132,047,000 after acquiring an additional 62,897 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 6.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,061,000 after acquiring an additional 61,216 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $84,157,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Woodward by 6.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 559,964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $86,302,000 after purchasing an additional 35,281 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.