Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys New Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,441 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 28,230 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,843,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 491 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 28,741 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,430,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,173 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD stock traded up $1.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $181.13. 1,631 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 397,697. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $180.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 2.62. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $118.25 and a 52 week high of $188.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.37.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $835.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $807.04 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WWD. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Woodward from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.38.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total transaction of $1,002,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,914,324.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Woodward 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.