Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Upgraded by Wolfe Research to Outperform Rating

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a hold rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. Wolfe Research currently has $300.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

WWD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.67.

Woodward Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $257.72 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.05. The firm has a market cap of $15.46 billion, a PE ratio of 40.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward has a 1 year low of $146.82 and a 1 year high of $267.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 17.72%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,121,680.16. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in Woodward by 2,314.3% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Woodward by 189.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 171 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its position in Woodward by 116.7% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 182 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.