Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $230.79 and last traded at $227.89, with a volume of 144627 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $218.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WWD shares. Wall Street Zen raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $291.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.75.

Woodward Stock Up 1.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $13.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.60 and a 200 day moving average of $184.63.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. The company had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Woodward’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. The trade was a 39.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total value of $536,256.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,216.80. This represents a 11.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,100 shares of company stock valued at $9,134,144 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WWD. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 130.2% in the fourth quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $221,133,000 after acquiring an additional 751,541 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $120,220,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 44,162.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 472,284 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,187,000 after acquiring an additional 471,217 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $253,175,000 after acquiring an additional 367,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,187,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently 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.