Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Has $663,000 Stake in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,989 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,064 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 1,609 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,097 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,823 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 2,567 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 34,884 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,087,000 after buying an additional 6,443 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 54,248 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,226,000 after buying an additional 13,592 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hexcel

In other Hexcel news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total value of $62,294.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,375 shares in the company, valued at $243,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total transaction of $322,335.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at $3,608,074.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 3,375 shares in the company, valued at $243,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Hexcel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.93.

Hexcel Stock Performance

NYSE HXL opened at $61.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.91, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.60. Hexcel Co. has a twelve month low of $58.81 and a twelve month high of $79.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $457.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $474.01 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 9.31%. Hexcel’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hexcel Co. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This is a positive change from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Hexcel’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

Hexcel 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.