Jackson Square Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Jackson Square Partners LLC cut its holdings in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 333,668 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 94,158 shares during the quarter. Hexcel accounts for 2.3% of Jackson Square Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Jackson Square Partners LLC owned 0.41% of Hexcel worth $20,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HXL. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Hexcel by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,023 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,330,000 after purchasing an additional 17,011 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 11.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,493 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,791,000 after purchasing an additional 8,135 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hexcel by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,084,860 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $68,021,000 after buying an additional 24,133 shares in the last quarter. Kopion Asset Management LLC grew its position in Hexcel by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Kopion Asset Management LLC now owns 97,960 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,142,000 after buying an additional 9,861 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Hexcel in the fourth quarter valued at about $242,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on HXL. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Hexcel from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised Hexcel to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Hexcel from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hexcel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.09.

Hexcel Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE HXL opened at $57.64 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.21. The firm has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.30. Hexcel Co. has a 1 year low of $55.25 and a 1 year high of $73.58.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The aerospace company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Hexcel had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 6.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hexcel Co. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is an increase from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.77%.

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.