Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

CW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $450.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $357.00 to $338.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $432.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $331.00 to $309.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Curtiss-Wright presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $404.29.

Curtiss-Wright Stock Performance

CW stock opened at $428.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $346.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $349.30. Curtiss-Wright has a fifty-two week low of $258.85 and a fifty-two week high of $430.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.14 billion, a PE ratio of 40.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.04.

Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.43. Curtiss-Wright had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.11%. The firm had revenue of $805.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.99 EPS. Curtiss-Wright’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Curtiss-Wright will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

Curtiss-Wright Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Curtiss-Wright’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. Curtiss-Wright’s payout ratio is 8.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO K Christopher Farkas sold 922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.47, for a total value of $300,083.34. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,567,320.51. The trade was a 6.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP George P. Mcdonald sold 148 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.41, for a total transaction of $48,160.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,899 shares in the company, valued at $617,953.59. This represents a 7.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,642 shares of company stock valued at $3,581,107 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Curtiss-Wright

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CW. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Curtiss-Wright in the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Curtiss-Wright by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 169 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Curtiss-Wright during the 4th quarter worth about $239,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Curtiss-Wright by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,653 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $941,000 after buying an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in Curtiss-Wright by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 82.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Curtiss-Wright

Curtiss-Wright Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides engineered products, solutions, and services mainly to aerospace and defense, commercial power, process, and industrial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Aerospace & Industrial, Defense Electronics, and Naval & Power.