Contrasting Woodward (WWD) & The Competition

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) is one of 229 public companies in the “Aerospace & Defense” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Woodward to related companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Woodward has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Woodward’s rivals have a beta of 1.31, indicating that their average stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Woodward pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Woodward pays out 14.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Aerospace & Defense” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.1% and pay out 38.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Woodward has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Woodward and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Woodward	$3.57 billion	$442.11 million	37.03
Woodward Competitors	$8.34 billion	$569.54 million	25.79

Woodward’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Woodward. Woodward is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.2% of Woodward shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.5% of shares of all “Aerospace & Defense” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Woodward shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.8% of shares of all “Aerospace & Defense” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Woodward and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Woodward	0	3	9	1	2.85
Woodward Competitors	2156	8262	12769	580	2.50

Woodward currently has a consensus target price of $413.82, indicating a potential upside of 24.30%. As a group, “Aerospace & Defense” companies have a potential upside of 27.92%. Given Woodward’s rivals higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Woodward has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Woodward and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Woodward	13.17%	21.89%	11.38%
Woodward Competitors	-278.19%	-46.46%	-4.02%

Summary

Woodward beats its rivals on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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. These products are used on commercial and private aircraft and rotorcraft, as well as on military fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft, guided weapons, and other defense systems. It also provides aftermarket maintenance, repair and overhaul, and other services to commercial airlines, repair facilities, military depots, third party repair shops, and other end users. This segment sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), tier-one suppliers, and contractors, as well as through aftermarket sales of components, such as provisioning spares and replacements. The Industrial segment offers actuators, valves, pumps, fuel injection systems, solenoids, ignition systems, speed controls, electronics and software, and sensors. These products are used on industrial gas turbines, steam turbines, compressors, and reciprocating engines. This segment sells its aftermarket products, and other related services to OEMs through an independent network of distributors, as well as directly to end users. The company was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado.