Note 5. Financial instruments and fair value measurements

Financial assets and liabilities recorded at fair value in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets are categorized based upon a fair value hierarchy established by U.S. GAAP, which prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value into the following levels:

Level 1: Inputs based on quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities at the measurement date.

Level 2: Quoted prices included in Level 1, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable and can be corroborated by observable market data.

Level 3: Inputs that reflect management’s best estimates and assumptions of what market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability at the measurement date. The inputs are unobservable in the market and significant to the valuation of the instruments.

The table below presents information about Woodward’s financial assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques Woodward utilized to determine such fair value. Woodward had no financial liabilities required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2017 or September 30, 2017.



	At December 31, 2017								At September 30, 2017
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Financial assets:
Cash	$	77,411	$	-	$	-	$	77,411	$	79,822	$	-	$	-	$	79,822
Investments in reverse repurchase agreements		847		-		-		847		1		-		-		1
Investments in term deposits with foreign banks		7,521		-		-		7,521		7,729		-		-		7,729
Equity securities		19,133		-		-		19,133		16,600		-		-		16,600
Total financial assets	$	104,912	$	-	$	-	$	104,912	$	104,152	$	-	$	-	$	104,152

Investments in reverse repurchase agreements: Woodward sometimes invests excess cash in reverse repurchase agreements. Under the terms of Woodward’s reverse repurchase agreements, Woodward purchases an interest in a pool of securities and is granted a security interest in those securities by the counterparty to the reverse repurchase agreement. At an agreed upon date, generally the next business day, the counterparty repurchases Woodward’s interest in the pool of securities at a price equal to what Woodward paid to the counterparty plus a rate of return determined daily per the terms of the reverse repurchase agreement. Woodward believes that the investments in these reverse repurchase agreements are with creditworthy financial institutions and that the funds invested are highly liquid. The investments in reverse repurchase agreements are reported at fair value, with realized gains from interest income recognized in earnings, and are included in “Cash and cash equivalents.” Since the investments are generally overnight, the carrying value is considered to be equal to the fair value as the amount is deemed to be a cash deposit with no risk of change in value as of the end of each fiscal quarter.

Investments in term deposits with foreign banks: Woodward’s foreign subsidiaries sometimes invest excess cash in various highly liquid financial instruments that Woodward believes are with creditworthy financial institutions. Such investments are reported in “Cash and cash equivalents” at fair value, with realized gains from interest income recognized in earnings. The carrying value of Woodward’s investments in term deposits with foreign banks are considered equal to the fair value given the highly liquid nature of the investments.

Equity securities: Woodward holds marketable equity securities, through investments in various mutual funds, related to its deferred compensation program. Based on Woodward’s intentions regarding these instruments, marketable equity securities are classified as trading securities. The trading securities are reported at fair value, with realized gains and losses recognized in “Other (income) expense, net.” The trading securities are included in “Other assets.” The fair values of Woodward’s trading securities are based on the quoted market prices for the net asset value of the various mutual funds.

Accounts receivable, accounts payable, and short-term borrowings are not remeasured to fair value, as the carrying cost of each approximates its respective fair value. The estimated fair values and carrying costs of other financial instruments that are not required to be remeasured at fair value in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets were as follows:



		At December 31, 2017				At September 30, 2017
	Fair Value Hierarchy Level	Estimated Fair Value		Carrying Cost		Estimated Fair Value		Carrying Cost
Assets:
Notes receivable from municipalities	2	$	14,771	$	14,217	$	15,848	$	14,507
Investments in short-term time deposits	2		9,191		9,219		8,227		8,223
Liabilities:
Long-term debt	2	$	(596,136)	$	(585,059)	$	(592,317)	$	(582,080)

In fiscal years 2014 and 2013, Woodward received long-term notes from municipalities within the states of Illinois and Colorado in connection with certain economic incentives related to Woodward’s development of a second campus in the greater-Rockford, Illinois area for its Aerospace segment and Woodward’s development of a new campus at its corporate headquarters in Fort Collins, Colorado. The fair value of the long-term notes was estimated based on a model that discounted future principal and interest payments received at an interest rate available to the Company at the end of the period for similarly rated municipal notes of similar maturity, which is a level 2 input as defined by the U.S. GAAP fair value hierarchy. The interest rates used to estimate the fair value of the long-term notes were 2.5% at December 31, 2017 and 2.6% at September 30, 2017.

From time to time, certain of Woodward’s foreign subsidiaries will invest excess cash in short-term time deposits with a fixed maturity date of longer than three months but less than one year from the date of the deposit. Woodward believes that the investments are with creditworthy financial institutions. The fair value of the investments in short-term time deposits was estimated based on a model that discounted future principal and interest payments to be received at an interest rate available to the foreign subsidiary entering into the investment for similar short-term time deposits of similar maturity. This was determined to be a level 2 input as defined by the U.S. GAAP fair value hierarchy. The interest rates used to estimate the fair value of the short-term time deposits were 5.6% at December 31, 2017 and 5.3% at September 30, 2017.

The fair value of long-term debt was estimated based on a model that discounted future principal and interest payments at interest rates available to the Company at the end of the period for similar debt of the same maturity, which is a level 2 input as defined by the U.S. GAAP fair value hierarchy. The weighted-average interest rates used to estimate the fair value of long-term debt were 2.3% at December 31, 2017 and 2.4% at September 30, 2017.