Brown Advisory Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL)

Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) by 83.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,693 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,043 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hexcel in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Hexcel during the first quarter worth approximately $61,000. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Hexcel by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,159 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hexcel by 71.2% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Hexcel by 61.8% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,272 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $61.00 to $50.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Hexcel from $73.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $53.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hexcel has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.67.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HXL opened at $58.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.91, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.28. Hexcel Corporation has a one year low of $45.28 and a one year high of $71.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $55.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The aerospace company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $456.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $482.18 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Hexcel Corporation will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.03%.

Hexcel 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.