Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Shares Sold by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 30,921 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 718 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $2,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Hexcel during the 4th quarter worth $2,185,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hexcel during the 4th quarter worth $2,362,000. Evoke Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hexcel during the 4th quarter worth $2,036,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 217,202 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $16,019,000 after acquiring an additional 30,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Hexcel in the first quarter worth $1,109,000. 95.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on HXL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Hexcel from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Hexcel from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Hexcel from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Hexcel from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hexcel

In related news, CEO Tom Gentile acquired 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.25 per share, with a total value of $993,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $993,750. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Hexcel news, CEO Tom Gentile bought 15,000 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.25 per share, with a total value of $993,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $993,750. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Catherine A. Suever bought 400 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $68.33 per share, for a total transaction of $27,332.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,748 shares in the company, valued at $1,076,060.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 18,400 shares of company stock valued at $1,214,672. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hexcel Price Performance

NYSE HXL opened at $63.66 on Friday. Hexcel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.81 and a fifty-two week high of $77.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.75 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.28.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The aerospace company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $500.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $484.26 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.55% and a net margin of 5.78%. The business’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Hexcel Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. Hexcel’s payout ratio is 51.28%.

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.