Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Dividend Announcement

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. 1,134,542 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 29% from the previous session’s volume of 876,221 shares.The stock last traded at $63.83 and had previously closed at $62.52.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on HXL. Barclays dropped their target price on Hexcel from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Hexcel in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Northcoast Research lowered Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Hexcel from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hexcel has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.57.

Hexcel Stock Down 0.5 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.48. The firm has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44. Hexcel had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 5.52%. The company had revenue of $472.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hexcel Co. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hexcel

In other Hexcel news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of Hexcel 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 sale, the insider now owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the business’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 transaction of $62,294.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total value of $322,335.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,608,074.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hexcel during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,362,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hexcel by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 217,202 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $16,019,000 after acquiring an additional 30,652 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in Hexcel by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 155,323 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $10,118,000 after acquiring an additional 9,242 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Hexcel in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,283,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in Hexcel by 73.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 66,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,308,000 after acquiring an additional 28,010 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.