Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on HXL. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Hexcel from $87.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Hexcel from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on Hexcel from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. TD Cowen raised Hexcel to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Hexcel from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hexcel currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.73.

Hexcel Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HXL opened at $51.91 on Friday. Hexcel has a one year low of $45.28 and a one year high of $73.58. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $58.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The aerospace company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Hexcel had a net margin of 6.94% and a return on equity of 10.66%. Analysts anticipate that Hexcel will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This is a positive change from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hexcel

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HXL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Hexcel by 4,372.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,502,676 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $156,919,000 after acquiring an additional 2,446,716 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hexcel during the fourth quarter worth $60,241,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Hexcel by 99.6% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,304,669 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $81,803,000 after buying an additional 651,062 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 249.6% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 815,658 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $51,142,000 after buying an additional 582,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Hexcel by 1,153.9% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 535,962 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,546,000 after buying an additional 493,218 shares in the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.