Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

A number of other analysts have also commented on WWD. UBS Group lifted their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Woodward Price Performance

WWD opened at $194.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.85. The company has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward has a 12-month low of $134.82 and a 12-month high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Woodward will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,313 shares of company stock worth $9,007,072. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in Woodward by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,309,000 after acquiring an additional 110,569 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,321,000 after acquiring an additional 59,290 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 135.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at about $99,000,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Woodward by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,977 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,872,000 after purchasing an additional 3,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.