Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Hexcel Corporation by 14.7% during the first quarter, now holding approximately $11.74 million worth of the company's shares.
• Despite a dip in earnings per share from last year, Hexcel reported $0.50 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.46.
• Hexcel announced a $0.17 quarterly dividend, representing an annualized yield of 1.1%, with the payout scheduled for August 15th.

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL - Free Report) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 214,326 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 37,037 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.27% of Hexcel worth $11,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Hexcel by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,816,442 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $301,991,000 after purchasing an additional 37,442 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Hexcel by 4,372.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,502,676 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $156,919,000 after purchasing an additional 2,446,716 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Hexcel by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,013,875 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $110,280,000 after acquiring an additional 17,512 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Hexcel by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,437,058 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $90,104,000 after purchasing an additional 24,393 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Hexcel by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,330,380 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $83,415,000 after purchasing an additional 86,435 shares in the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on HXL shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Hexcel from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Hexcel from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $73.00 to $67.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Hexcel from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hexcel has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.33.

Hexcel Stock Performance

Hexcel stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.91. 671,310 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,308,537. Hexcel Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.28 and a twelve month high of $71.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.69. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $57.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.31. The firm has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 56.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $489.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $482.20 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 4.69% and a return on equity of 9.76%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Hexcel Corporation will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Hexcel's payout ratio is currently 62.96%.

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.