Woodward, Inc. $WWD Shares Acquired by Permanens Capital L.P.

Key Points

• Permanens Capital L.P. increased its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 53.8% during the first quarter, now holding 4,415 shares valued at approximately $806,000.
• Research analysts have mixed opinions on Woodward, with several upgrades including a "buy" rating from Deutsche Bank and new price targets ranging from $245.00 to $299.00.
• Woodward declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 17.72%.

Permanens Capital L.P. lifted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 53.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,415 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,544 shares during the quarter. Permanens Capital L.P.'s holdings in Woodward were worth $806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP boosted its position in Woodward by 5.7% during the first quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 593,148 shares of the technology company's stock worth $108,244,000 after purchasing an additional 32,225 shares in the last quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the first quarter worth $832,000. Appian Way Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the first quarter worth $1,468,000. Caption Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the first quarter worth $566,000. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 387.2% in the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 12,061 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,201,000 after acquiring an additional 16,261 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ WWD traded down $3.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $237.90. 53,821 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 516,685. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.04. The business's 50 day moving average is $250.85 and its 200-day moving average is $216.36. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.82 and a 12-month high of $267.45.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $884.98 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The firm's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WWD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.11.

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.