Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives “Hold” Rating from TD Cowen

TD Cowen reissued their hold rating on shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. TD Cowen currently has a $160.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $186.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Woodward from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial raised Woodward from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $174.67.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD stock opened at $165.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $162.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.89. Woodward has a 52 week low of $119.03 and a 52 week high of $188.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $853.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Woodward’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Woodward will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Woodward by 1.3% in the first 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 boosted its stake in Woodward by 2.6% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $240,711,000 after acquiring an additional 34,946 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Woodward by 13.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,679,000 after purchasing an additional 74,734 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 94.2% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,735,000 after purchasing an additional 210,746 shares in 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.