Regal Partners Ltd Grows Position in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Regal Partners Ltd grew its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 62.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,249 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,249 shares during the quarter. Regal Partners Ltd’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 44.1% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 154,449 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,281,000 after acquiring an additional 47,272 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the first quarter worth $974,000. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp bought a new stake in Woodward in the first quarter worth $606,000. Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Woodward by 103.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 250,014 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $89,485,000 after purchasing an additional 126,963 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Woodward in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $440.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $404.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Woodward in a research report on Monday. Susquehanna assumed coverage on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. They issued a “positive” rating and a $423.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Karrie M. Bem sold 185 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.00, for a total transaction of $65,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,295,040. The trade was a 4.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel G. Korte sold 14,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.05, for a total transaction of $5,233,935.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,434 shares in the company, valued at $1,578,725.70. The trade was a 76.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 15,629 shares of company stock valued at $5,570,005 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of WWD opened at $410.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $24.46 billion, a PE ratio of 49.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $394.83 and a 200 day moving average of $376.65. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $233.31 and a 52-week high of $450.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The technology company reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.17. Woodward had a net margin of 12.85% and a return on equity of 20.12%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. Woodward’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 9.34 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.33%.

Woodward Company Profile

Woodward, Inc (NASDAQ: WWD) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and service of control systems and components for the aerospace and industrial markets. Founded in 1870 and headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, the company specializes in motion control, fuel systems, actuation, and digital control solutions. Its offerings enable precision management of flow, pressure and motion in critical applications ranging from aircraft engines and power turbines to hydraulic systems.

Woodward’s product portfolio is organized into two primary segments: Aerospace and Industrial.