Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.28

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 24th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.28 per share by the technology company on Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st.

Woodward has a dividend payout ratio of 15.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Woodward to earn $7.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.7%.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock traded up $2.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $257.26. The company had a trading volume of 551,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,761. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $237.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.62. Woodward has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $259.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.27 billion, a PE ratio of 41.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 11.36%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WWD. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $232.25.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 48,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,245,250. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,096 shares of company stock worth $9,247,289 in the last 90 days. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,390 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Woodward by 684.3% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,043 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,039,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.