Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $190.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $170.00.

A number of other research firms have also commented on WWD. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $173.22.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock opened at $152.36 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The company has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.37. Woodward has a one year low of $119.03 and a one year high of $188.35.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The company had revenue of $847.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $853.29 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward will post 5.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Woodward by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 28,230 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,843,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Woodward by 2.4% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,277 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 491 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Woodward by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 28,741 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,430,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is 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.