Kodai Capital Management LP Invests $13.06 Million in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• Kodai Capital Management LP purchased 71,536 shares of Woodward, Inc. for approximately $13,055,000, representing about 0.12% ownership of the company.
• Woodward recently reported earnings of $1.76 EPS, surpassing estimates and experiencing an 8.0% revenue increase compared to the previous year.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, set to be paid on September 4th, representing a 0.4% yield.

Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 71,536 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $13,055,000. Kodai Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.12% of Woodward as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 2.3% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 2,193,238 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $400,244,000 after buying an additional 49,481 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $253,175,000 after buying an additional 367,300 shares in the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 751,541 shares in the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC increased its position in Woodward by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 1,225,750 shares of the technology company's stock worth $203,989,000 after purchasing an additional 168,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Woodward by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,092,257 shares of the technology company's stock worth $199,326,000 after purchasing an additional 51,873 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,250. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WWD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Northcoast Research upgraded Woodward to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price objective (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $253.11.

Woodward Stock Down 0.8%

WWD stock traded down $1.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $244.01. 98,460 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 516,127. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.82 and a 12-month high of $267.45. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $14.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $251.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $214.65.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The business had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. 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, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.72%.

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.