Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,460,000 shares, a growth of 15.0% from the October 31st total of 2,140,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 753,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,835,994 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $302,008,000 after buying an additional 136,290 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 277.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,695,343 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $105,874,000 after buying an additional 1,246,765 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,600,619 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $98,966,000 after buying an additional 425,402 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,406,287 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $87,829,000 after buying an additional 103,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,161,415 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $71,810,000 after buying an additional 129,335 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hexcel Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of HXL traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.91. 724,538 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 864,662. Hexcel has a 52-week low of $57.50 and a 52-week high of $77.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.14. The firm has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.76.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $457.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.07 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 5.73%. Hexcel’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hexcel will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HXL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Hexcel from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Hexcel from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised Hexcel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Vertical Research cut Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Hexcel from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.58.

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.