Curtiss-Wright Corporation $CW Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) by 19.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 206,021 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,191 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Curtiss-Wright were worth $140,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CW. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Curtiss-Wright by 738.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 26,003 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $14,335,000 after buying an additional 22,903 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 75.8% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 18,425 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $10,157,000 after purchasing an additional 7,944 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 114.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,759 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,931,000 after buying an additional 5,749 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Curtiss-Wright by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,667 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new stake in Curtiss-Wright during the fourth quarter valued at $1,104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.71% of the company’s stock.

Curtiss-Wright Stock Up 2.3%

CW stock opened at $749.55 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $745.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $706.10. The stock has a market cap of $27.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.91, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.86. Curtiss-Wright Corporation has a twelve month low of $464.91 and a twelve month high of $808.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.16. Curtiss-Wright had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 20.00%. The company had revenue of $913.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $863.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Curtiss-Wright Corporation will post 15.22 EPS for the current year.

Curtiss-Wright Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Curtiss-Wright’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Lynn M. Bamford sold 2,500 shares of Curtiss-Wright stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $34,739,270.48. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John C. Watts sold 220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $752.91, for a total transaction of $165,640.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,983,029.42. This represents a 5.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 3,119 shares of company stock worth $2,257,998 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Curtiss-Wright from $724.00 to $768.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $860.00 price target on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $870.00 target price on Curtiss-Wright in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Curtiss-Wright from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Curtiss-Wright from $775.00 to $793.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $773.67.

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.