HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL – Get Rating) by 149.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,369 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 25,355 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $2,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HXL. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hexcel by 140.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 502 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hexcel during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Hexcel by 173.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 545 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hexcel by 166.7% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 800 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Hexcel by 858.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 968 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hexcel

In other news, Director Marilyn Minus sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.31, for a total transaction of $49,917.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $261,850.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.91, for a total transaction of $40,064.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,695,289.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Marilyn Minus sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.31, for a total transaction of $49,917.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,672 shares in the company, valued at $261,850.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Hexcel Price Performance

NYSE:HXL opened at $72.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.10 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average is $69.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.75. Hexcel Co. has a 12-month low of $47.38 and a 12-month high of $75.47.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $457.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $431.53 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 8.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Research analysts expect that Hexcel Co. will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 4th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Hexcel’s payout ratio is currently 28.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HXL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Hexcel from $59.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. TheStreet raised shares of Hexcel from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $64.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hexcel presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.00.

About Hexcel

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Hexcel Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of lightweight structural materials. It operates through the Composite Materials and Engineered Products segments. The Composite Materials segment includes carbon fiber, specialty reinforcements, resins, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, and honeycomb core product lines and pultruded profiles.