Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $197.38.

Several brokerages have weighed in on WWD. Barclays raised their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. 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 note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Woodward by 28.6% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 14,038 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,408,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in Woodward by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,624 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Woodward by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,003,000 after purchasing an additional 6,917 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 165.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,603 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after buying an additional 5,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at about $270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $182.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $185.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.89. Woodward has a 52 week low of $144.45 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The company has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s payout ratio is 18.76%.

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.