Woodward (WWD) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Monday

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) is scheduled to be issuing its quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Monday, April 29th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $1.29 per share for the quarter. Woodward has set its FY24 guidance at $5.00-5.40 EPS.Parties interested in listening to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $786.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.13 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 9.50%. The company’s revenue was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. On average, analysts expect Woodward to post $5 EPS for the current fiscal year and $6 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD opened at $147.49 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $146.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Woodward has a 12-month low of $91.42 and a 12-month high of $160.79.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Woodward from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916 in the last 90 days. 1.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Woodward by 653.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,309,248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $223,097,000 after acquiring an additional 2,002,572 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 15.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,749,193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $718,131,000 after acquiring an additional 768,984 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Woodward by 41.1% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,134,296 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $266,595,000 after acquiring an additional 621,559 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $23,812,000. Finally, Eaton Vance Management raised its position in shares of Woodward by 63.4% during the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 580,570 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,519,000 after acquiring an additional 225,198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.