Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Issues FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 7.500-8.000 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 7.730. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.8 billion-$4.0 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.8 billion.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WWD shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Woodward from $303.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research set a $300.00 target price on Woodward and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.22.

Woodward Trading Up 12.4%

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $293.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a PE ratio of 46.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward has a 1 year low of $146.82 and a 1 year high of $296.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $256.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $245.97.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.26. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The company had revenue of $995.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $943.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.72%.

Woodward announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.80 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harvest Investment Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $2,340,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Woodward by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 35,704 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,781,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the period. Williamson Legacy Group LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter valued at about $765,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Woodward during the third quarter worth about $2,234,000. Finally, Untitled Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth about $16,149,000. 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.