Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) Hits New 12-Month Low - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Curtiss-Wright hit a new 52-week low, trading as low as $451.95 and last at $462.85, down from the previous close of $497.76.
• Analyst views remain mixed but lean positive: the consensus is “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $676.38, despite several analysts cutting their targets or ratings.
• The company beat quarterly EPS estimates ($3.72 versus $3.62) and reported 5.4% year-over-year revenue growth, while missing revenue estimates slightly. It also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.24 to $0.26 per share.

Shares of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $451.95 and last traded at $462.8510, with a volume of 172,951 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $497.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Curtiss-Wright from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $860.00 to $625.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Curtiss-Wright from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $793.00 to $622.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $801.00 price target on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $676.38.

Curtiss-Wright Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $16.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $535.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $666.64.

Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The aerospace company reported $3.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $924.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $926.17 million. Curtiss-Wright had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 14.81%. Curtiss-Wright's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Curtiss-Wright Corporation will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Curtiss-Wright Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 25th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 25th. 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 yield of 0.2%. Curtiss-Wright's payout ratio is presently 7.16%.

Insider Activity at Curtiss-Wright

In related news, 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 sale, the director directly owned 1,414 shares in the company, valued at $843,790.36. This trade represents a 6.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John C. Watts sold 1,035 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at $1,694,842.56. This represents a 27.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Curtiss-Wright

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Running Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Curtiss-Wright by 2.4% during the third quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 16,139 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $8,779,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC raised its holdings in Curtiss-Wright by 77.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 1,152 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $626,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Curtiss-Wright by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 8,136 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,424,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Curtiss-Wright by 240.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 53,048 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $28,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 995 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.71% of the company's stock.

Curtiss-Wright Company Profile

Curtiss-Wright Corporation NYSE: CW is a diversified industrial company that provides highly engineered products and services to the aerospace, defense, commercial nuclear power, and general industrial markets. The company designs and manufactures equipment used in applications that require reliable performance in demanding operating environments.

Its products and technologies include motion-control systems, valves, pumps, actuation equipment, sensors, data-acquisition systems, embedded computing products, and aircraft structural components.

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