Short Interest in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Drops By 7.4%

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) was the target of a large decline in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 760,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Hexcel

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hexcel

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 53,624 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,955,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 2.0% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,294 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,476 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 2.0% in the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 9,219 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 10,251 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on HXL. Morgan Stanley lowered Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $66.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Hexcel from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Hexcel from $81.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.14.

Hexcel Stock Performance

Hexcel stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $61.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,560,529 shares, 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 quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $71.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.65. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Hexcel Increases Dividend

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

Hexcel Company 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.