Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP Grows Stake in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP increased its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 5.7% during Q1, now holding approximately 593,148 shares, making it the firm's 4th largest position.
• Woodward reported $1.76 earnings per share for the latest quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.62, with total revenue reaching $915.45 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.5%, set to be paid on September 4th for shareholders recorded by August 21st.

Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 593,148 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,225 shares during the quarter. Woodward accounts for approximately 5.1% of Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP owned 1.00% of Woodward worth $108,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 191.2% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 166 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 2,314.3% during the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 189.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 171 shares of the technology company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 116.7% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 182 shares of the technology company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WWD. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $253.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 48,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,245,250. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Woodward Trading Down 0.7%

Woodward stock traded down $1.74 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $242.85. The stock had a trading volume of 642,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,626. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.82 and a 52-week high of $267.45. The firm has a market cap of $14.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average of $250.93 and a 200 day moving average of $215.79.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $884.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

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

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.