Short Interest in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Grows By 18.0%

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 894,200 shares, an increase of 18.0% from the December 31st total of 757,600 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 453,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total transaction of $1,776,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,044,929.15. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 101.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $185.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.60. Woodward has a twelve month low of $133.56 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The stock has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a PE ratio of 30.82, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is 16.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WWD. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.11.

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.