Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.28 Per Share

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 3rd,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of 0.28 per share by the technology company on Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25.

Woodward has increased its dividend payment by an average of 15.4% per year over the last three years. Woodward has a payout ratio of 13.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Woodward to earn $7.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.1%.

Woodward Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of WWD stock opened at $184.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.40. Woodward has a 1 year low of $133.56 and a 1 year high of $201.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $179.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.55.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Woodward will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WWD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total value of $1,745,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,008,669.50. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.