Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on WWD. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price target (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.67.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD traded down $2.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $161.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 278,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,730. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $164.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.96. Woodward has a one year low of $119.03 and a one year high of $188.35.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Woodward had a net margin of 11.47% and a return on equity of 17.16%. The firm had revenue of $847.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 94.2% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,735,000 after acquiring an additional 210,746 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 12.3% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,345,438 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $207,359,000 after purchasing an additional 147,856 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Woodward by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,915 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $899,431,000 after purchasing an additional 77,654 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 17,072.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,165,000 after purchasing an additional 76,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 13.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,679,000 after buying an additional 74,734 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.