Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

Several other brokerages have also commented on WWD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Woodward from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $197.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Woodward from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Woodward from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $177.11.

Woodward Trading Up 1.7 %

WWD opened at $162.05 on Wednesday. Woodward has a 12-month low of $119.03 and a 12-month high of $188.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $167.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.04.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.29 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.47% and a return on equity of 17.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Woodward will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,157,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Woodward by 94.2% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $75,735,000 after acquiring an additional 210,746 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Woodward by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,345,438 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $207,359,000 after acquiring an additional 147,856 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Woodward by 37.6% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 524,683 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $71,425,000 after acquiring an additional 143,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Woodward by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,915 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $899,431,000 after acquiring an additional 77,654 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.