Brokerages Set Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Target Price at $71.33

Shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.33.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HXL shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Hexcel from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group upped their price target on Hexcel from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Hexcel from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen upgraded Hexcel to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Hexcel from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th.

Hexcel Price Performance

HXL stock opened at $62.59 on Thursday. Hexcel has a 52-week low of $57.50 and a 52-week high of $77.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.44.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 5.73%. The firm had revenue of $457.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $457.07 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hexcel will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hexcel by 15.6% in the third quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 244,873 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $15,140,000 after purchasing an additional 32,960 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,023 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,330,000 after buying an additional 17,011 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Hexcel by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 581,557 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $35,957,000 after buying an additional 63,730 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Hexcel by 215.5% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 865,235 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $54,034,000 after acquiring an additional 590,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Hexcel by 11.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,493 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,791,000 after acquiring an additional 8,135 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

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.