Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Short Interest Down 7.4% in March

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,760,000 shares, a decline of 7.4% from the March 15th total of 1,900,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 760,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HXL. Truist Financial raised Hexcel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on Hexcel from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Hexcel from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.14.

Insider Activity at Hexcel

In related news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total value of $62,294.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total transaction of $322,335.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,608,074.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total value of $62,294.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in Hexcel during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Hexcel during the second quarter worth $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hexcel by 100.0% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in Hexcel by 68.1% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 442 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new position in Hexcel during the third quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Hexcel Stock Performance

Shares of Hexcel stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $61.76. 1,523,828 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 860,046. Hexcel has a 1 year low of $58.81 and a 1 year high of $79.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $72.12 and a 200-day moving average of $69.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.23.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.06). Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 5.91%. The company had revenue of $457.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $474.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Hexcel’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Hexcel will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This is a boost from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is 48.39%.

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.