Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Woodward, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with an average price target of $253.11 over the next year.
• The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the latest quarter, surpassing estimates, and revenue increased by 8.0% year-over-year to $915.45 million.
• Woodward has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, with an ex-dividend date set for August 21st and an annual yield of 0.5%.

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $253.1111.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded Woodward to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $247.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $249.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.33. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $14.86 billion, a PE ratio of 39.22, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.30. Woodward has a 1 year low of $146.82 and a 1 year high of $267.45.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $884.98 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Woodward's payout ratio is presently 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,250. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total value of $565,582.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,944,998.15. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,296 shares of company stock worth $6,611,283 over the last 90 days. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in Woodward during the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Woodward by 191.2% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 166 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in Woodward by 2,314.3% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the technology company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Woodward by 189.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 171 shares of the technology company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC increased its position in Woodward by 116.7% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 182 shares of the technology company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

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.

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