Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $140.00 to $175.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Woodward traded as high as $173.13 and last traded at $173.13, with a volume of 55658 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $168.83.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on WWD. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,836 shares in the company, valued at $677,040. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $677,040. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 57,200 shares of company stock worth $8,244,976. Company insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Woodward by 11.7% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,975 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 9.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 316,467 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,324,000 after purchasing an additional 27,119 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $460,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association bought a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter worth $501,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $151.70 and a 200 day moving average of $140.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The firm had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

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.