Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 163,433 Shares of Curtiss-Wright Co. (NYSE:CW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Curtiss-Wright Co. (NYSE:CW) by 170.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 259,435 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 163,433 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.68% of Curtiss-Wright worth $92,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CW. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Curtiss-Wright in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Curtiss-Wright in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Curtiss-Wright in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Curtiss-Wright by 61.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 169 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Curtiss-Wright in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $69,000. 82.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut Curtiss-Wright from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Curtiss-Wright in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Curtiss-Wright in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $452.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Curtiss-Wright from $334.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Curtiss-Wright from $333.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $386.86.

Curtiss-Wright Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:CW opened at $325.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.19. Curtiss-Wright Co. has a one year low of $232.82 and a one year high of $393.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $354.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $342.60.

Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The aerospace company reported $3.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.12 by $0.15. Curtiss-Wright had a return on equity of 17.21% and a net margin of 13.20%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Curtiss-Wright Co. will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Curtiss-Wright Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 27th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. Curtiss-Wright’s payout ratio is presently 7.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Curtiss-Wright news, VP John C. Watts sold 622 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.05, for a total value of $215,865.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,760,237.60. This represents a 10.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul J. Ferdenzi sold 1,907 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.98, for a total value of $661,690.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,386,166.90. The trade was a 9.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 116 shares of company stock worth $35,278 and sold 23,064 shares worth $8,157,322. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.