StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Hexcel (NYSE:HXL)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hexcel (NYSE:HXL – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Hexcel from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Bank of America lowered shares of Hexcel from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday, February 3rd. TheStreet raised shares of Hexcel from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Hexcel from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Hexcel from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $66.75.

Hexcel Price Performance

HXL stock opened at $66.13 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Hexcel has a 12 month low of $47.38 and a 12 month high of $74.99. The firm has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.68 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.23.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $429.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $402.18 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 7.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Hexcel will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th were given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 9th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Hexcel’s payout ratio is 33.78%.

Insider Transactions at Hexcel

In other news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,265 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.51, for a total value of $292,195.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,604,065.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,265 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.51, for a total value of $292,195.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,604,065.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Marilyn Minus sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.31, for a total transaction of $49,917.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $261,850.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,722 shares of company stock worth $676,077. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 22,420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 621 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,411 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 21,397 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 44,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,297,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.87% of the company’s stock.

About Hexcel

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Hexcel Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of lightweight structural materials. It operates through the Composite Materials and Engineered Products segments. The Composite Materials segment includes carbon fiber, specialty reinforcements, resins, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, and honeycomb core product lines and pultruded profiles.