Bleakley Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,728 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HXL. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 6,084,592 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Hexcel in the fourth quarter valued at $56,738,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in Hexcel in the third quarter valued at $39,213,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Hexcel by 6.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,420,295 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $500,755,000 after acquiring an additional 475,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Hexcel by 11.2% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,409,631 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $202,771,000 after acquiring an additional 344,711 shares in the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Hexcel

In related news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,608,074.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,608,074.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hexcel Stock Up 0.4 %

HXL stock opened at $61.76 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Hexcel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.81 and a fifty-two week high of $79.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.65. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 49.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.23.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $457.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $474.01 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hexcel Co. will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. 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 48.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on HXL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial raised shares of Hexcel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $96.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $81.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $66.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Hexcel in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.14.

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.