Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.86.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HXL. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Friday, June 14th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hexcel

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $64.13 per share, for a total transaction of $641,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,803 shares in the company, valued at $1,141,706.39. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Hexcel news, CEO Nick L. Stanage purchased 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.29 per share, with a total value of $964,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 392,446 shares in the company, valued at $25,230,353.34. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.13 per share, for a total transaction of $641,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,706.39. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 43,400 shares of company stock worth $2,820,322 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hexcel

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HXL. Mariner LLC increased its position in Hexcel by 4.9% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 13,963 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Hexcel by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,063 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Hexcel by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 37,007 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,411,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Hexcel by 38.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,744 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 1,609 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Hexcel by 45.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 126,399 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,234,000 after buying an additional 39,454 shares during the period. 95.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hexcel Stock Performance

Shares of HXL opened at $64.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.74. Hexcel has a twelve month low of $58.81 and a twelve month high of $79.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $67.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.68. The firm has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.33, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.28.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 8.97%. The firm had revenue of $472.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Hexcel will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.28%.

About Hexcel

Hexcel Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets carbon fibers, structural reinforcements, honeycomb structures, resins, and composite materials and parts for use in commercial aerospace, space and defense, and industrial applications. It operates through two segments, Composite Materials and Engineered Products.