New York State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Holdings in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,044 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.07% of Hexcel worth $4,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Hexcel in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hexcel by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in Hexcel by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 442 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning bought a new stake in Hexcel during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hexcel during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. 95.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hexcel

In other news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the business’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 owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the business’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 owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total transaction of $322,335.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HXL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (down from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Wednesday. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Hexcel from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $57.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.57.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HXL opened at $62.56 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $58.81 and a 1-year high of $79.08. The company has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.68.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $474.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Hexcel’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Hexcel Co. will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This is an increase from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Hexcel’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

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.