Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) Hits New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Curtiss-Wright shares reached a new 52-week high at $504.11 amid strong trading volume, marking a upward trend for the company's stock.
• Analysts have increased price targets for Curtiss-Wright, with forecasts ranging from $500 to $568, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company reported a 13.0% year-over-year increase in revenue for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations significantly with earnings per share of $2.82.

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $502.77 and last traded at $504.11, with a volume of 14093 shares. The stock had previously closed at $493.58.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CW. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Curtiss-Wright from $365.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Curtiss-Wright from $525.00 to $568.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Curtiss-Wright from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Curtiss-Wright from $432.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Curtiss-Wright from $356.00 to $338.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $467.14.

Curtiss-Wright Trading Down 0.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $475.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $388.76.

Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $805.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.32 million. Curtiss-Wright had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 13.38%. The firm's revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Curtiss-Wright Corporation will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

Curtiss-Wright Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Curtiss-Wright's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Curtiss-Wright's payout ratio is 8.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John C. Watts sold 450 shares of Curtiss-Wright stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.36, for a total value of $202,212.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 4,959 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,228,376.24. This trade represents a 8.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce D. Hoechner sold 1,900 shares of Curtiss-Wright stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total transaction of $851,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,026,304. This represents a 29.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CW. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 159,612 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $56,641,000 after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 93.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 18,515 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,571,000 after buying an additional 8,967 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,096 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,444,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,388 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,912,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,417,445 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $503,009,000 after purchasing an additional 84,635 shares in the last quarter. 82.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.