Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Short Interest Update

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 961,700 shares, an increase of 20.7% from the January 31st total of 796,700 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 476,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Woodward by 3.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Woodward by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Woodward by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Down 0.5 %

WWD stock opened at $176.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Woodward has a 1-year low of $144.13 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $184.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.21. The firm has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.54, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.38.

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.