Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

WWD has been the topic of several other reports. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Woodward from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Woodward from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Woodward from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $197.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $177.11.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $159.41 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.37. Woodward has a 52 week low of $119.03 and a 52 week high of $188.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $166.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.17.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.29 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.47% and a return on equity of 17.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Woodward will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. 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.