Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on WWD. Truist Financial increased their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $186.53 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $180.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.29. The company has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward has a 52 week low of $136.25 and a 52 week high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Woodward will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total value of $1,795,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,066,684.94. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,400 shares of company stock worth $5,844,768 in the last three months. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 3.5% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Delta Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 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.