Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $238.54 and last traded at $235.95, with a volume of 183467 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $232.06.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WWD. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Woodward presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $222.13.

Woodward Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $199.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.35, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The business had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.61 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total transaction of $565,582.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,050 shares of company stock valued at $13,267,077 over the last quarter. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 2.3% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 2,193,238 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $400,244,000 after purchasing an additional 49,481 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock worth $253,175,000 after acquiring an additional 367,300 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,418,123 shares of the technology company's stock worth $236,004,000 after acquiring an additional 38,774 shares in the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 130.2% during the fourth quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company's stock worth $221,133,000 after acquiring an additional 751,541 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $216,771,000 after acquiring an additional 23,735 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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