Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $201.80 and last traded at $200.25, with a volume of 59099 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $196.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WWD. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.00.

Woodward Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $11.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.83, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $179.62 and a 200-day moving average of $179.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89.

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

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total value of $1,864,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,886,305.73. This trade represents a 39.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,700 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,700 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $465,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 105.2% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,717 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at $1,275,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 10,286 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,712,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter worth about $2,137,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.