Woodward, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:WWD)

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, June 26th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the technology company on Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd.

Woodward has increased its dividend by an average of 18.9% per year over the last three years. Woodward has a payout ratio of 16.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Woodward to earn $5.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.8%.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $153.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $171.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $162.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.37. Woodward has a 52 week low of $119.03 and a 52 week high of $188.35.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $847.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.29 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Woodward will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $197.00 to $158.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.11.

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.