DAVENPORT & Co LLC Lowers Stake in Hexcel Corporation $HXL

Key Points

• DAVENPORT & Co LLC reduced its stake by 21.5% in Hexcel during Q4, selling 116,460 shares and retaining 425,276 shares valued at about $31.43 million (≈0.53% of the company).
• Hexcel beat quarterly estimates, reporting $0.52 EPS vs. $0.50 expected and $491.3M revenue vs. $484.46M, and set FY2026 guidance of $2.10–$2.30 EPS (consensus ~2.14).
• Dividend raised to $0.18 quarterly (annualized $0.72), reflecting a 0.9% yield and a payout ratio of about 52.2%.

DAVENPORT & Co LLC reduced its position in Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL - Free Report) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 425,276 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 116,460 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC owned approximately 0.53% of Hexcel worth $31,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 122.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,849,941 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $304,091,000 after buying an additional 2,671,682 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Hexcel in the 3rd quarter worth $123,233,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Hexcel during the second quarter valued at about $57,697,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Hexcel by 49.1% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,440,242 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $137,850,000 after acquiring an additional 803,123 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 92.8% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,661,690 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $104,188,000 after acquiring an additional 799,695 shares in the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hexcel

In related news, insider Amy S. Evans sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.80, for a total value of $139,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $183,651.20. This trade represents a 43.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.03% of the company's stock.

Hexcel Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of HXL stock opened at $80.75 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.01. Hexcel Corporation has a 12-month low of $45.28 and a 12-month high of $95.22. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $85.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.50.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $491.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $484.46 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.54% and a net margin of 5.78%.The firm's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Hexcel has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Hexcel Corporation will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Hexcel's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Hexcel's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HXL. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Hexcel from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Hexcel in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group set a $99.00 price target on Hexcel in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Hexcel from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hexcel has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $82.17.

Hexcel Company Profile

Hexcel Corporation is a global leader in advanced composite materials for aerospace and industrial applications. The company specializes in the development and manufacture of lightweight, high-performance products that enhance fuel efficiency, durability and structural strength. Its offerings are critical to the aerospace sector, where demand for lighter, more efficient aircraft drives continuous innovation in materials.

Hexcel's product portfolio encompasses carbon fiber reinforcements, pre-impregnated composites (prepregs), honeycomb core, engineered adhesives and structural film adhesives.

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