Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $779.70 and last traded at $764.7390, with a volume of 239576 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $762.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $748.00 target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $870.00 target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $724.00 target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $728.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Curtiss-Wright has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $746.67.

Curtiss-Wright Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $28.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $729.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $668.14.

Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $913.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $863.83 million. Curtiss-Wright had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 20.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Curtiss-Wright Corporation will post 15.15 EPS for the current year.

Curtiss-Wright Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Curtiss-Wright’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Curtiss-Wright news, VP Gary A. Ogilby sold 399 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.95, for a total transaction of $288,058.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,172 shares in the company, valued at $1,568,075.40. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Lynn M. Bamford sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.72, for a total transaction of $1,804,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 48,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,739,270.48. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 3,119 shares of company stock worth $2,257,998 over the last quarter. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Curtiss-Wright

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CW. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 10.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 213,101 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $67,611,000 after acquiring an additional 20,379 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Curtiss-Wright in the second quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 53.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Curtiss-Wright in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,423,000. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 46.4% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. 82.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Curtiss-Wright

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW) is a diversified, global engineering company that designs, manufactures and services highly engineered products and integrated systems for the aerospace, defense, and industrial markets. Its offerings span a range of electromechanical, motion control and flow control technologies, including flight control and actuation systems, sensors and avionics components, pumps and valves, power conversion and heat exchangers, and platform integration solutions for marine and ground systems.