Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Given New $73.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) had its price target decreased by UBS Group from $77.00 to $73.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Northcoast Research downgraded Hexcel from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. 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, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Hexcel from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hexcel presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $76.57.

Hexcel Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE HXL opened at $63.25 on Wednesday. Hexcel has a 1 year low of $58.81 and a 1 year high of $79.08. The firm has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.06, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.74. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.48.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44. Hexcel had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 5.52%. The business had revenue of $472.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hexcel will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Hexcel’s payout ratio is 51.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hexcel

In other Hexcel news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Hexcel news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,608,074.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hexcel

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HXL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Hexcel during the 4th quarter valued at $66,597,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Hexcel by 143.6% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,466,380 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $108,146,000 after purchasing an additional 864,405 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Hexcel by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,503,055 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $110,850,000 after purchasing an additional 724,280 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Hexcel by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 643,487 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $41,917,000 after purchasing an additional 325,369 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in Hexcel by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,462,293 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $95,254,000 after purchasing an additional 231,207 shares during the period. 95.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.