Bank of America Reiterates “Underperform” Rating for Hexcel (NYSE:HXL)

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Bank of America in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $65.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $75.00. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 2.02% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on HXL. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hexcel has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.57.

Hexcel Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:HXL opened at $63.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.38, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23. Hexcel has a 1-year low of $58.81 and a 1-year high of $79.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.68.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.06). Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 5.91%. The business had revenue of $457.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $474.01 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hexcel will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were 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 approximately $243,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total value of $62,294.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total transaction of $322,335.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at $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 bought and sold shares of HXL. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Hexcel by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 8,268 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Hexcel by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,064 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Hexcel by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,097 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Hexcel by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,823 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Hexcel by 22.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 34,884 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,087,000 after purchasing an additional 6,443 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.