Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $140.00 to $175.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Woodward traded as high as $173.13 and last traded at $173.13, with a volume of 55658 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $168.83.

WWD has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total value of $1,002,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,914,324.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total value of $1,002,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,914,324.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 57,200 shares of company stock valued at $8,244,976. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Norges Bank bought a new position in Woodward during the 4th quarter worth $84,157,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Woodward by 61.9% during the third quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 490,042 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,893,000 after acquiring an additional 187,300 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Woodward by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 524,683 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,425,000 after purchasing an additional 143,410 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $16,627,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 3,387.8% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 78,231 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,650,000 after buying an additional 75,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $151.70 and a 200-day moving average of $140.44.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.04 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

About Woodward

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.