Concentric Capital Strategies LP Buys New Position in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• Concentric Capital Strategies LP invested $832,000 to acquire 4,557 shares of Woodward, Inc. in the first quarter, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Woodward reported earnings of $1.76 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.62, with total revenue reaching $915.45 million, up 8.0% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28, representing an annualized yield of 0.5%, with a payout ratio of 17.72%.

Concentric Capital Strategies LP acquired a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,557 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $832,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 2,193,238 shares of the technology company's stock worth $400,244,000 after purchasing an additional 49,481 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock worth $253,175,000 after acquiring an additional 367,300 shares during the period. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 130.2% during the 4th quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company's stock worth $221,133,000 after acquiring an additional 751,541 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Woodward by 5.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,092,257 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $199,326,000 after buying an additional 51,873 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Woodward by 1.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 637,888 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $116,408,000 after buying an additional 9,386 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WWD. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.11.

Woodward Stock Performance

Woodward stock traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $238.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 209,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,654. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.82 and a twelve month high of $267.45. The firm has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $250.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $216.51.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The company had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Woodward's payout ratio is 17.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,245,250. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward 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.