Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

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

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WWD. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Woodward from $210.00 to $197.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $173.22.

Woodward Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $178.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.58. The stock has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.37. Woodward has a twelve month low of $119.03 and a twelve month high of $188.35.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $853.29 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.47% and a return on equity of 17.16%. Woodward’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Woodward will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 1,228.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 28,780 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,918,000 after purchasing an additional 26,614 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Woodward by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 28,648 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in Woodward by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,510 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,975,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Woodward by 79.3% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 199 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Woodward by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,890 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,299,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.