Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $168.75.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Woodward from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Woodward Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $168.83 on Friday. Woodward has a twelve month low of $105.18 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $149.64 and its 200 day moving average is $139.30. The company has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The firm had revenue of $835.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $807.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 17.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,680,049.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Woodward by 79.3% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 199 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Woodward in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.