Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Stock Rating Lowered by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $68.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $76.00.

Several other research firms have also commented on HXL. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hexcel from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Hexcel from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Hexcel from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Hexcel from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $74.54.

Hexcel Stock Performance

Shares of HXL stock opened at $62.58 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $63.80 and its 200 day moving average is $67.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.49, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.28. Hexcel has a 52-week low of $58.81 and a 52-week high of $77.09.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.55% and a net margin of 5.78%. The business had revenue of $500.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $484.26 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hexcel will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Hexcel’s payout ratio is currently 51.28%.

Institutional Trading of Hexcel

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 438.7% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,496 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,847 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hexcel during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,098,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 232.6% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 98,122 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,128,000 after purchasing an additional 68,622 shares during the period. Sea Cliff Partners Management LP boosted its holdings in Hexcel by 206.5% during the second quarter. Sea Cliff Partners Management LP now owns 235,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $14,682,000 after buying an additional 158,393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Hexcel by 307.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,079,598 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $67,421,000 after buying an additional 814,402 shares during the period. 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.