Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Short Interest Update

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) saw a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,320,000 shares, a growth of 69.1% from the March 31st total of 780,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 381,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $677,040. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,242,916 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 34.7% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 28,230 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,843,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Woodward by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 491 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Woodward by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 28,741 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,430,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of Woodward by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,510 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,975,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD stock opened at $150.58 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $147.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.24. The stock has a market cap of $9.08 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.36. Woodward has a 1 year low of $91.89 and a 1 year high of $160.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.65.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $786.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $750.13 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 9.50%. Woodward’s revenue was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WWD shares. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.22.

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.