Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Price Target Raised to $77.00

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $67.00 to $77.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on HXL. Citigroup restated a “reduce” rating on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded Hexcel from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group upgraded Hexcel from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Hexcel from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Hexcel Price Performance

Hexcel stock opened at $72.71 on Friday. Hexcel has a one year low of $45.28 and a one year high of $74.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.75 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.54, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.33.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.01). Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 3.67%.The company had revenue of $456.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $449.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Hexcel’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Hexcel has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.700-1.800 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hexcel will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is 80.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Hexcel news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 8,897 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.86, for a total transaction of $568,162.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,276,528.88. This trade represents a 14.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 911 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $59,215.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,283 shares in the company, valued at $278,395. This trade represents a 17.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Hexcel by 4.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,690,924 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $264,990,000 after acquiring an additional 191,649 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Hexcel by 32.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,314,702 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $181,514,000 after acquiring an additional 812,026 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hexcel by 103.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,759,673 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $155,894,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405,538 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Hexcel by 49.1% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,440,242 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $137,850,000 after acquiring an additional 803,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,283,626 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $129,002,000 after acquiring an additional 126,338 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.