Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Short Interest Update

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,210,000 shares, a growth of 18.6% from the September 30th total of 1,020,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 457,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD opened at $164.04 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.37. Woodward has a 52-week low of $119.03 and a 52-week high of $188.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $164.64 and its 200-day moving average is $168.86.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.29 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. Woodward’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Woodward will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WWD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.67.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 77,654 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $240,711,000 after buying an additional 34,946 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,679,000 after buying an additional 74,734 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 541,496 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $94,426,000 after buying an additional 16,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 94.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,735,000 after buying an additional 210,746 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently 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.