Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Raises Position in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 23.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 234,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 44,340 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $17,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HXL. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in shares of Hexcel during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Hexcel during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Hexcel during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hexcel in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Centerpoint Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hexcel by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Hexcel from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Hexcel in a report on Friday, June 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.71.

Hexcel Trading Down 3.2 %

NYSE HXL traded down $2.07 on Friday, hitting $62.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,161,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 980,234. The company has a current ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.17, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.52. Hexcel Co. has a 52-week low of $58.81 and a 52-week high of $77.09.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The aerospace company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 9.55%. The company had revenue of $500.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $484.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Hexcel’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Hexcel Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Hexcel’s payout ratio is 51.28%.

Hexcel Company Profile

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.