First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Stake in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 11th, 2023

Hexcel logo First Trust Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL – Get Rating) by 22.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 287,010 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 82,772 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.34% of Hexcel worth $14,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HXL. Channing Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hexcel by 23,692.4% during the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,053,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $54,476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,861 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hexcel by 265.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 803,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $42,037,000 after purchasing an additional 583,440 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,799,982 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $196,571,000 after buying an additional 498,461 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,420,295 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $500,755,000 after buying an additional 475,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,409,631 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $202,771,000 after buying an additional 344,711 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Marilyn Minus sold 700 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.31, for a total transaction of $49,917.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $261,850.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hexcel news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.51, for a total transaction of $292,195.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,604,065.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Marilyn Minus sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.31, for a total transaction of $49,917.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,672 shares in the company, valued at $261,850.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,722 shares of company stock worth $676,077 in the last ninety days. 1.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of HXL opened at $68.41 on Friday. Hexcel Co. has a twelve month low of $47.38 and a twelve month high of $74.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.22 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.09. Hexcel had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 7.29%. The firm had revenue of $429.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $402.18 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. Hexcel’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Hexcel Co. will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This is a positive change from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 9th. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HXL shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Hexcel from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.75.

About Hexcel

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Hexcel Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of lightweight structural materials. It operates through the Composite Materials and Engineered Products segments. The Composite Materials segment includes carbon fiber, specialty reinforcements, resins, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, and honeycomb core product lines and pultruded profiles.