Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $760.93 and last traded at $761.8090, with a volume of 125132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $719.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $870.00 target price on Curtiss-Wright in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $748.00 target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $724.00 target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $728.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $746.67.

Curtiss-Wright Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $28.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.58, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $724.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $662.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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

Curtiss-Wright Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Curtiss-Wright

In other Curtiss-Wright news, VP Gary A. Ogilby sold 399 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.95, for a total value of $288,058.05. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,172 shares in the company, valued at $1,568,075.40. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Lynn M. Bamford sold 3,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $676.70, for a total transaction of $2,182,357.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 50,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,264,027.80. This trade represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,080 shares of company stock valued at $6,297,278. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Curtiss-Wright

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Curtiss-Wright in the fourth quarter valued at about $290,633,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Curtiss-Wright by 6,169.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 406,531 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $224,108,000 after buying an additional 400,047 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Curtiss-Wright by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 490,489 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $270,392,000 after buying an additional 185,887 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE acquired a new position in shares of Curtiss-Wright during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,892,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 45.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 388,493 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $189,468,000 after purchasing an additional 122,048 shares in the last quarter. 82.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Curtiss-Wright Company Profile

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.