Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Purchases 30,652 Shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL - Free Report) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 217,202 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 30,652 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned about 0.26% of Hexcel worth $16,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HXL. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Hexcel by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,044 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,576,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hexcel in the 4th quarter worth about $4,770,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Hexcel by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 48,374 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,568,000 after buying an additional 2,274 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Hexcel by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Hexcel by 77.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,634 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $932,000 after buying an additional 5,516 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,608,074.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total transaction of $322,335.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 corporate insiders.

Hexcel Price Performance

NYSE:HXL traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $71.48. The stock had a trading volume of 488,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 737,045. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Hexcel Co. has a one year low of $58.81 and a one year high of $79.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $457.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $474.01 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Hexcel Co. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This is a boost from Hexcel's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Hexcel's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on HXL. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hexcel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Hexcel from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Hexcel from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.46.

Hexcel 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.