Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $140.00 to $175.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Woodward traded as high as $173.13 and last traded at $173.13, with a volume of 55658 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $168.83.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.13.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,680,049.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 57,200 shares of company stock worth $8,244,976. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Woodward by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,975 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,364,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 9.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 316,467 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,324,000 after purchasing an additional 27,119 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $460,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association acquired a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter worth approximately $501,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Up 2.9 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $150.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

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.