Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Posted by on Jun 17th, 2022

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,940,000 shares, a drop of 14.5% from the May 15th total of 2,270,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 486,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Shares of WWD stock opened at $88.27 on Friday. Woodward has a 1 year low of $87.79 and a 1 year high of $129.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $104.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.61 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The company has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.50.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.14). Woodward had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business had revenue of $586.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Woodward will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 17th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 16th. Woodward’s payout ratio is 28.04%.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Woodward in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 3rd. Cowen cut their target price on shares of Woodward from $130.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 3rd. Finally, Cowen cut their target price on shares of Woodward from $130.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.86.

In other news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship purchased 400 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $99.05 per share, with a total value of $39,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,575,705. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel G. Korte purchased 1,896 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $104.83 per share, with a total value of $198,757.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,757.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 2,796 shares of company stock valued at $287,428 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WWD. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 114.4% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 540,692 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,306,000 after buying an additional 288,545 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,126 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,249,000 after buying an additional 6,896 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 107.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,837 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 1,988 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at $799,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 98,417 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,141,000 after buying an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. 80.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Woodward (Get Rating)

Woodward, Inc designs, manufactures, and services control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets worldwide. The company operates through 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.

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