23,600 Shares in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 23,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,740,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Hexcel during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in Hexcel by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 442 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in Hexcel during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hexcel during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI raised its holdings in Hexcel by 110.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 641 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of HXL opened at $61.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.52, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Hexcel Co. has a 1-year low of $58.81 and a 1-year high of $79.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $457.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $474.01 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 5.91%. Hexcel’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. This is an increase from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. Hexcel’s payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hexcel news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total transaction of $62,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Hexcel news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,608,074.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on HXL. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Hexcel from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Hexcel from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Hexcel in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.93.

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.