Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.34 EPS

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $835.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $807.04 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. Woodward updated its FY24 guidance to $5.70-6.00 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 5.700-6.000 EPS.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $165.86 on Thursday. Woodward has a 1-year low of $105.18 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $149.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.10. The firm has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.31.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on WWD shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,040. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,242,916. 1.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.