Curtiss-Wright Co. (NYSE:CW) Short Interest Up 57.4% in April

Curtiss-Wright Co. (NYSE:CW) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 323,500 shares, an increase of 57.4% from the March 31st total of 205,500 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 194,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Curtiss-Wright Price Performance

CW stock opened at $254.01 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $246.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.90. The stock has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a PE ratio of 27.61 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Curtiss-Wright has a 1 year low of $157.72 and a 1 year high of $261.46.

Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The aerospace company reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $785.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $737.09 million. Curtiss-Wright had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 12.46%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.92 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Curtiss-Wright will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Curtiss-Wright Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Curtiss-Wright’s payout ratio is 8.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Paul J. Ferdenzi sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,171,920. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO K Christopher Farkas sold 2,736 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.16, for a total value of $657,077.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,202,747.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Paul J. Ferdenzi sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,171,920. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,451 shares of company stock valued at $3,030,512. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Curtiss-Wright

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. bought a new position in shares of Curtiss-Wright in the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong bought a new position in Curtiss-Wright during the first quarter worth about $2,585,000. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas lifted its position in Curtiss-Wright by 11.5% during the first quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 1,939 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Curtiss-Wright during the first quarter worth approximately $416,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Curtiss-Wright by 2.8% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,815,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CW. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Curtiss-Wright from $246.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Curtiss-Wright from $255.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (down previously from $250.00) on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Curtiss-Wright from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $260.25.

Curtiss-Wright Company Profile

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.