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

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $354.80.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WWD. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Woodward from $362.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $366.00 to $404.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Eileen P. Paterson sold 5,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.15, for a total transaction of $1,966,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $959,744.70. This represents a 67.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.88, for a total transaction of $1,489,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 15,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,508,413.80. The trade was a 24.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 29,300 shares of company stock valued at $10,281,210 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at $2,039,000. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,390 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 684.3% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,043 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $920,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 2nd quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Woodward in the second quarter valued at $334,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $384.56 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.43, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $355.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $297.12. Woodward has a 12-month low of $146.82 and a 12-month high of $403.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The technology company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.52. Woodward had a net margin of 12.89% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The business had revenue of $996.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $901.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.600 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward declared that its board has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 16.12%.

About Woodward

Woodward, Inc (NASDAQ: WWD) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and service of control systems and components for the aerospace and industrial markets. Founded in 1870 and headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, the company specializes in motion control, fuel systems, actuation, and digital control solutions. Its offerings enable precision management of flow, pressure and motion in critical applications ranging from aircraft engines and power turbines to hydraulic systems.

Woodward’s product portfolio is organized into two primary segments: Aerospace and Industrial.