Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives $168.75 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $173.13.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WWD shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 1st.

Woodward Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $178.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.78. Woodward has a one year low of $105.18 and a one year high of $179.73. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $152.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.70. The company has a market cap of $10.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The business had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.04 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Woodward’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 17.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total value of $1,002,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,914,324.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total value of $1,002,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,914,324.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 57,200 shares of company stock valued at $8,244,976 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WWD. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,975 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,364,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Woodward by 9.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 316,467 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,324,000 after purchasing an additional 27,119 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth about $460,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at about $501,000. 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.