Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Stock Holdings Lowered by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 59.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 189,405 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 276,237 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Hexcel worth $11,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Hexcel during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 34.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in Hexcel by 38.9% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,490 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Hexcel during the 2nd quarter valued at about $128,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Hexcel during the 3rd quarter worth about $155,000. 95.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hexcel Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HXL opened at $59.53 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.92. Hexcel Co. has a 52 week low of $57.50 and a 52 week high of $77.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.76. The company has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of 45.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $457.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.07 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 5.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Hexcel Co. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is 45.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on HXL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hexcel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Hexcel from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Hexcel from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Hexcel from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.54.

Hexcel Profile

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.