Analysts Set Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target at $173.22

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $173.22.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $197.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Woodward by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $155.66 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.37. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $172.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.98. Woodward has a fifty-two week low of $119.03 and a fifty-two week high of $188.35.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The business 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%. Woodward’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Woodward will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

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.