Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Shares Sold by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB cut its stake in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,869 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,005 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $1,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Hexcel by 2.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,835,994 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $302,008,000 after buying an additional 136,290 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hexcel by 277.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,695,343 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $105,874,000 after buying an additional 1,246,765 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Hexcel by 36.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,600,619 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $98,966,000 after buying an additional 425,402 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Hexcel by 8.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,406,287 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $87,829,000 after purchasing an additional 103,679 shares during the period. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hexcel by 12.5% in the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,161,415 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $71,810,000 after purchasing an additional 129,335 shares during the period. 95.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HXL. TD Cowen raised shares of Hexcel to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Hexcel from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Hexcel from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Hexcel from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.33.

Hexcel Stock Performance

NYSE:HXL opened at $64.46 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.21, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Hexcel Co. has a 1-year low of $57.50 and a 1-year high of $77.09.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $457.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $457.07 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 5.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Hexcel Co. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.80%.

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.