Seven Eight Capital LP Buys New Shares in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 15,217 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,109,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HXL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hexcel by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,914,296 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $576,556,000 after acquiring an additional 67,425 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hexcel by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,503,055 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $110,850,000 after purchasing an additional 724,280 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Hexcel by 143.6% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,466,380 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $108,146,000 after purchasing an additional 864,405 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,377,915 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $101,621,000 after buying an additional 81,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,353,980 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $99,857,000 after buying an additional 59,976 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hexcel Stock Performance

Shares of Hexcel stock traded down $2.76 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 725,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 946,210. Hexcel Co. has a 52 week low of $58.81 and a 52 week high of $77.09. The firm has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a PE ratio of 53.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $66.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The aerospace company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $500.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $484.26 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 9.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Hexcel Co. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on HXL shares. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $81.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Hexcel from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Hexcel from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Hexcel from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hexcel presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.13 per share, with a total value of $641,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,706.39. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.13 per share, with a total value of $641,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,706.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine A. Suever bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $68.33 per share, with a total value of $27,332.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 15,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,076,060.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 43,400 shares of company stock worth $2,820,322. Company insiders own 1.39% 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.