Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

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

WWD has been the topic of several other 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 report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

Woodward Trading Down 1.2 %

Woodward stock opened at $190.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $180.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.13. The company has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.40. Woodward has a 52 week low of $134.82 and a 52 week high of $201.64. 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 (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total value of $1,795,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,066,684.94. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,400 shares of company stock worth $5,844,768. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.