Grandfield & Dodd LLC Buys 1,171 Shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 320,918 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the quarter. Hexcel accounts for approximately 1.5% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Grandfield & Dodd LLC owned 0.39% of Hexcel worth $23,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,846,871 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $578,707,000 after buying an additional 27,850 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,503,055 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $110,850,000 after acquiring an additional 724,280 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 143.6% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,466,380 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $108,146,000 after purchasing an additional 864,405 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Hexcel by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,377,915 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $101,621,000 after purchasing an additional 81,389 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Hexcel by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,353,980 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $99,857,000 after purchasing an additional 59,976 shares in the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on HXL. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Hexcel from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $81.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Hexcel from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.86.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of Hexcel stock traded up $1.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $65.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 742,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 924,001. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $67.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Hexcel Co. has a one year low of $58.81 and a one year high of $79.08.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 8.97%. The company had revenue of $472.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hexcel Co. will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Hexcel’s payout ratio is 51.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Catherine A. Suever purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $68.33 per share, for a total transaction of $27,332.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,748 shares in the company, valued at $1,076,060.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hexcel news, Director Catherine A. Suever bought 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $68.33 per share, for a total transaction of $27,332.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,076,060.84. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nick L. Stanage purchased 15,000 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.29 per share, for a total transaction of $964,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 392,446 shares in the company, valued at $25,230,353.34. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 43,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,820,322. Company insiders own 1.85% of the company’s stock.

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.