Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on WWD. Wolfe Research set a $300.00 price target on Woodward and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research lowered Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Woodward from $303.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.22.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $300.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.51, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $260.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $247.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Woodward has a 1 year low of $146.82 and a 1 year high of $303.07.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $995.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $943.15 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.80 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harvest Investment Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,340,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in Woodward by 2.6% during the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 35,704 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,781,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the period. Williamson Legacy Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $765,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,234,000. Finally, Untitled Investments LP purchased a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $16,149,000. 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.