Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Short Interest Update

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant 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 volume of 760,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company's stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on HXL shares. Truist Financial raised shares of Hexcel from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hexcel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Hexcel from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.14.

Hexcel Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:HXL traded up $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $61.76. 1,560,529 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.81, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.23.

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 return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 5.91%. The firm 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 business earned $0.40 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Hexcel will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 $3,608,074.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,608,074.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider now owns 3,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Hexcel

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HXL. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 838.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,810,199 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $400,780,000 after purchasing an additional 6,084,592 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Hexcel during the fourth quarter worth about $56,738,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 143.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,466,380 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $108,146,000 after acquiring an additional 864,405 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 93.0% in the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,503,055 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $110,850,000 after acquiring an additional 724,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 6.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,420,295 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $500,755,000 after acquiring an additional 475,375 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.