Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WWD. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price target (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.67.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $161.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $164.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward has a 1-year low of $119.03 and a 1-year high of $188.35.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $847.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $853.29 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Woodward will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward in the second quarter worth $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 101.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. 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.