Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) Sets New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $793.00 to $622.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Curtiss-Wright traded as low as $502.31 and last traded at $508.1060, with a volume of 588,702 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $553.35.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on CW. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $724.00 to $768.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Guggenheim started coverage on Curtiss-Wright in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $786.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Curtiss-Wright from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Curtiss-Wright in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $665.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $860.00 price target on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $746.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John Watts sold 1,035 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $619.46, for a total transaction of $641,141.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,842.56. This represents a 27.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry D. Wyche sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.74, for a total transaction of $59,674.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,414 shares in the company, valued at $843,790.36. The trade was a 6.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Curtiss-Wright

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in Curtiss-Wright by 117.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,525 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 4.0% in the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 988 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 60.4% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 9.3% in the third quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 376 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 11.8% in the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 82.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Curtiss-Wright Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $602.46 and its 200-day moving average is $686.20. The firm has a market cap of $18.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The aerospace company reported $3.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.10. Curtiss-Wright had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The firm had revenue of $924.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $926.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Curtiss-Wright Corporation will post 15.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Curtiss-Wright Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Curtiss-Wright’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 25th. Curtiss-Wright’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.16%.

About Curtiss-Wright

Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a diversified manufacturer and service provider serving the aerospace, defense, commercial power and industrial markets. The company develops and produces highly engineered components and systems used in applications where reliability, performance and safety are critical.

Its products and services include aircraft and industrial actuation systems, sensors and controls, electronic components, embedded computing systems, data-acquisition equipment, valves, pumps, motors and other flow-control products.