Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $430.00 to $445.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. Woodward traded as high as $402.95 and last traded at $398.7090, with a volume of 102563 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $388.50.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $378.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $354.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.88, for a total transaction of $1,489,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 15,135 shares in the company, valued at $4,508,413.80. The trade was a 24.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.33, for a total value of $888,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,575 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,319.75. This represents a 12.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 42,250 shares of company stock worth $12,739,855 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Woodward in the second quarter worth approximately $201,555,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth $184,721,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 122.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 905,578 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $228,849,000 after acquiring an additional 497,722 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of Woodward by 1,086.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 330,514 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,524,000 after purchasing an additional 302,666 shares during the period. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at $73,406,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $318.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $277.07. The firm has a market cap of $23.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The technology company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.52. Woodward had a return on equity of 19.07% and a net margin of 12.89%.The company had revenue of $996.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $901.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.600 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.11%.

Woodward declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 20th that allows the company to buyback $1.80 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Woodward Company Profile

Woodward, Inc (NASDAQ: WWD) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and service of control systems and components for the aerospace and industrial markets. Founded in 1870 and headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, the company specializes in motion control, fuel systems, actuation, and digital control solutions. Its offerings enable precision management of flow, pressure and motion in critical applications ranging from aircraft engines and power turbines to hydraulic systems.

Woodward’s product portfolio is organized into two primary segments: Aerospace and Industrial.