Stifel Nicolaus Trims Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Target Price to $86.00

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL - Free Report) had its target price decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $90.00 to $86.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the aerospace company's stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America reissued an underperform rating and set a $65.00 price target (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on Hexcel from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised Hexcel from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $76.93.

Hexcel Price Performance

NYSE HXL traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,182,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 864,901. Hexcel has a 52-week low of $58.81 and a 52-week high of $79.08. The company has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.06). Hexcel had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The firm had revenue of $457.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $474.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Hexcel will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Hexcel

In related news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at $3,608,074.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hexcel news, 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 transaction of $62,294.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,375 shares in the company, valued at $243,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,608,074.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HXL. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Hexcel by 1.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,171,181 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $625,933,000 after acquiring an additional 112,122 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hexcel by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,846,871 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $578,707,000 after acquiring an additional 27,850 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Hexcel by 838.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,810,199 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $400,780,000 after acquiring an additional 6,084,592 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Hexcel by 1.1% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,344,230 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $282,983,000 after acquiring an additional 47,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Hexcel by 11.2% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,409,631 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $202,771,000 after acquiring an additional 344,711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.47% of the company's stock.

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.