StockNews.com Upgrades Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) to “Buy”

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

WWD has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.67.

Woodward Stock Up 0.8 %

WWD stock opened at $167.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $162.51 and a 200-day moving average of $167.51. Woodward has a fifty-two week low of $119.03 and a fifty-two week 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $853.29 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. 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 firm 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 4,177.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.