Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $183.19, but opened at $153.11. Woodward shares last traded at $153.91, with a volume of 459,396 shares changing hands.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $197.00 to $158.00 in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped 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, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $173.22.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 180,389 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Woodward by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 29,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,169,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Woodward by 7.7% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,699 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Woodward by 17.8% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 75,311 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,133,000 after buying an additional 11,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the second quarter worth $107,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.96. The company’s fifty day moving average is $179.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.36.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Woodward’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 17.48%.

Woodward Company Profile

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.