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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WWD. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

Woodward Price Performance

WWD opened at $186.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $180.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.40. Woodward has a 1 year low of $136.25 and a 1 year high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (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 last year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Woodward will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,093,275.35. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,400 shares of company stock valued at $5,844,768. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Woodward by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 19,951 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,911 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $464,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Woodward by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 628,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,595,000 after acquiring an additional 82,792 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Woodward by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,418,123 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $236,004,000 after acquiring an additional 38,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $3,705,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.