Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on WWD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Woodward from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $197.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Woodward has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $173.22.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $152.36 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $178.19 and its 200 day moving average is $160.41. Woodward has a 52 week low of $119.03 and a 52 week high of $188.35.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.29 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 5.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Woodward by 1,228.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 28,780 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,918,000 after buying an additional 26,614 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Woodward by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 28,648 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,900,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Woodward by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,510 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,975,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 79.3% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 199 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,890 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,299,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. 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.