Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $228.88.

WWD has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $252.03 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Woodward has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month high of $255.69. The stock has a market cap of $14.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s fifty day moving average is $224.92 and its 200 day moving average is $195.83.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $838.61 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 16.86%. Woodward’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total transaction of $565,582.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,944,998.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total transaction of $2,310,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,142,443.35. This trade represents a 66.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,096 shares of company stock worth $9,247,289. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 191.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 166 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 2,314.3% in the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 189.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 171 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 116.7% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 182 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.