Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on WWD. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.67.

Woodward Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded up $1.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $167.62. The company had a trading volume of 528,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 424,581. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Woodward has a one year low of $119.03 and a one year high of $188.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $162.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.37. The company has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WWD. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Woodward in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Woodward by 4,177.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.