Ingalls & Snyder LLC Raises Stake in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its stake in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 412,157 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 9,883 shares during the period. Hexcel comprises 1.4% of Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $30,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 1.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,171,181 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $625,933,000 after purchasing an additional 112,122 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 838.6% during 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. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 1.1% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,344,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $282,983,000 after purchasing an additional 47,591 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 11.2% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,409,631 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $202,771,000 after purchasing an additional 344,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eaton Vance Management lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 4.4% during the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 2,476,907 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $147,301,000 after purchasing an additional 103,891 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on HXL. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Hexcel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $96.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on Hexcel from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Hexcel from $81.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.57.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of HXL stock traded down $1.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $62.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,780,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 841,638. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $72.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.23. Hexcel Co. has a 52 week low of $58.81 and a 52 week high of $79.08.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $474.01 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 5.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Hexcel Co. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. This is a positive change from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hexcel news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,608,074.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Hexcel news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the company’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 value of $62,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,608,074.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.