Short Interest in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Drops By 7.4%

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,760,000 shares, a decline of 7.4% from the March 15th total of 1,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 760,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HXL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Hexcel from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Hexcel in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley downgraded Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Hexcel from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hexcel presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hexcel

In other Hexcel news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total value of $322,335.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,608,074.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total transaction of $322,335.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,608,074.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hexcel

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hexcel in the fourth quarter worth about $2,362,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 217,202 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $16,019,000 after acquiring an additional 30,652 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 6.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 155,323 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $10,118,000 after acquiring an additional 9,242 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hexcel in the third quarter worth about $1,283,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 73.5% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 66,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,308,000 after acquiring an additional 28,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Hexcel Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of HXL stock traded up $0.26 on Tuesday, reaching $61.76. 1,560,529 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 860,046. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 49.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.23. Hexcel has a one year low of $58.81 and a one year high of $79.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $71.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.65.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $457.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $474.01 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 5.91%. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hexcel will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This is an increase from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

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.