Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.57.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Hexcel from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Hexcel from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday.

Hexcel Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of HXL stock opened at $64.13 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.41 and a 200 day moving average of $69.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.23. Hexcel has a twelve month low of $58.81 and a twelve month high of $79.08.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.44. The company had revenue of $472.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.93 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 5.52%. Hexcel’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hexcel will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hexcel news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total transaction of $62,294.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hexcel news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total transaction of $62,294.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total value of $322,335.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,608,074.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HXL. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 444.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,697 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 413.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 41,147 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after acquiring an additional 33,129 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,826 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 2,057 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 9,219 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA acquired a new stake in shares of Hexcel in the 3rd quarter valued at about $664,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

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.