United Services Automobile Association Purchases New Stake in Hexcel Corporation $HXL

Key Points

• United Services Automobile Association has acquired a new position in Hexcel Corporation, purchasing 5,443 shares valued at approximately $306,000 in the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes in Hexcel, with institutional investors now owning 95.47% of the stock, highlighting strong interest in the aerospace sector.
• Hexcel received multiple upgrades from analysts, with target prices ranging from $65.00 to $80.00, indicating positive market sentiment.

United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,443 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 4.0% in the first quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,323 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,938 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 0.3% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 98,746 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,407,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 2.8% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 9,497 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviso Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 1.9% during the first quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 13,830 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HXL. UBS Group upgraded Hexcel from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Hexcel from $52.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up previously from $65.00) on shares of Hexcel in a report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Hexcel from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Hexcel from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hexcel presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Hexcel Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE HXL traded up $0.11 on Monday, hitting $62.06. The company had a trading volume of 689,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 802,755. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Hexcel Corporation has a 12-month low of $45.28 and a 12-month high of $71.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.46, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $61.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.73.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $489.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $482.20 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 4.69%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Hexcel has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.850-2.050 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hexcel Corporation will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Hexcel's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.96%.

Insider Transactions at Hexcel

In related news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 8,897 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.86, for a total value of $568,162.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,276,528.88. This represents a 14.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 911 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $59,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 4,283 shares in the company, valued at $278,395. This represents a 17.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.03% of the company's stock.

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.