Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Woodward, Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from twelve brokerages, with four ratings as "hold" and eight as "buy."
• The company reported a net margin of 11.32% and revenue growth of 8% year-over-year, beating consensus estimates for both earnings per share and revenue.
• Woodward will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.28 on December 4th, reflecting an annual yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 17.72%.

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $268.6667.

Several brokerages have weighed in on WWD. Northcoast Research raised shares of Woodward to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research set a $300.00 price target on shares of Woodward and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th.

Woodward Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of WWD opened at $247.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.11, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.25. Woodward has a twelve month low of $146.82 and a twelve 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 earnings per share 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 net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Woodward 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, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WWD. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 189.8% in 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 in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 116.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 220 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.