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

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $273.2222.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Woodward from $303.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research downgraded Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $294.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research set a $300.00 target price on shares of Woodward and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter worth about $246,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 0.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 165,286 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,163,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in Woodward during the second quarter worth about $698,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Woodward during the second quarter valued at about $3,682,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Woodward by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,681 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $300.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.51, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward has a 1-year low of $146.82 and a 1-year high of $303.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $260.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.69.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $995.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $943.15 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.58%.

Woodward announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.80 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.