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

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest during 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 453,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total value of $1,745,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,008,669.50. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WWD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Woodward by 135.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $170,170,000 after buying an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,547,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at $2,448,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Woodward by 12.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,003,000 after purchasing an additional 6,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter worth $1,698,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Woodward Price Performance

WWD traded down $3.40 on Tuesday, hitting $184.50. 1,181,663 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 475,271. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $179.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward has a one year low of $133.56 and a one year high of $201.64. The firm has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is 16.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WWD. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.