Short Interest in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Expands By 6.2%

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) saw a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, a growth of 6.2% from the August 31st total of 1,290,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 799,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hexcel

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hexcel in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,331,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Hexcel by 438.7% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,496 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 2,847 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hexcel in the second quarter valued at about $2,098,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 232.6% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 98,122 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,128,000 after buying an additional 68,622 shares during the period. Finally, Sea Cliff Partners Management LP lifted its position in Hexcel by 206.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sea Cliff Partners Management LP now owns 235,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $14,682,000 after acquiring an additional 158,393 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HXL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Hexcel from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on Hexcel from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Hexcel from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Hexcel from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Hexcel from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hexcel presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.46.

Hexcel Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE HXL opened at $60.84 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 52.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $62.14 and a 200-day moving average of $65.45. Hexcel has a 52-week low of $58.54 and a 52-week high of $77.09.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The aerospace company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $500.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $484.26 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.55% and a net margin of 5.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Hexcel will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.28%.

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.