Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Issues FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 7.500-8.000 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 7.730. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.8 billion-$4.0 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.8 billion.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on WWD. Wall Street Zen lowered Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays upped their target price on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $300.00 price target on shares of Woodward and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.67.

Woodward Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of WWD traded down $1.52 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $261.18. The stock had a trading volume of 973,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 519,012. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $244.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Woodward has a fifty-two week low of $146.82 and a fifty-two week high of $274.50. The firm has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.26. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.72%.

Woodward declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.80 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,039,000. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 35.5% in the first 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 last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Woodward by 684.3% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,043 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,030 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Woodward by 11.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 506 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 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.