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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Woodward from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial raised Woodward from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Woodward from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $197.00 to $158.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $177.11.

Woodward Stock Up 2.0 %

WWD stock opened at $167.77 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Woodward has a fifty-two week low of $119.03 and a fifty-two week high of $188.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $165.03 and a 200-day moving average of $165.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 11.47% and a return on equity of 17.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,915 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $899,431,000 after purchasing an additional 77,654 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $240,711,000 after acquiring an additional 34,946 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Woodward by 13.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,679,000 after purchasing an additional 74,734 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth $84,157,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Woodward by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 541,496 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $94,426,000 after purchasing an additional 16,083 shares during the last quarter. 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.