First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires New Holdings in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,129 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 10,251 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in Hexcel by 68.1% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 442 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Hexcel by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 37,007 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,411,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Hexcel by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,044 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,576,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 8,989 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $663,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HXL has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Hexcel from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Two investment 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.57.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of HXL opened at $71.18 on Wednesday. Hexcel Co. has a 12 month low of $58.81 and a 12 month high of $79.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.50. The company has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.84, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.25.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.44. The firm had revenue of $472.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.93 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 8.97%. Hexcel’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Hexcel Co. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.28%.

Insider Activity at Hexcel

In related news, Director Catherine A. Suever bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $68.33 per share, with a total value of $27,332.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 15,748 shares in the company, valued at $1,076,060.84. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Catherine A. Suever acquired 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $68.33 per share, for a total transaction of $27,332.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,076,060.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nick L. Stanage purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.29 per share, for a total transaction of $964,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 392,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,230,353.34. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 43,400 shares of company stock worth $2,820,322 over the last ninety days. 1.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.