The Goldman Sachs Group Boosts Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Price Target to $78.00

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) had its price target raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hexcel from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. Northcoast Research lowered Hexcel from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America reaffirmed an underperform rating and issued a $65.00 price target (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Hexcel from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and dropped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $76.50.

Hexcel Stock Performance

NYSE:HXL opened at $61.71 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.52. Hexcel has a 1-year low of $58.81 and a 1-year high of $79.08. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.77, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.23.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.06). Hexcel had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The business had revenue of $457.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $474.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Hexcel will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hexcel news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total value of $62,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,375 shares in the company, valued at $243,337.50. The transaction 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 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 value of $62,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 50,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,608,074.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hexcel

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HXL. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Hexcel by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,171,181 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $625,933,000 after buying an additional 112,122 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 27,850 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Hexcel by 838.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,810,199 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $400,780,000 after purchasing an additional 6,084,592 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Hexcel by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,344,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $282,983,000 after purchasing an additional 47,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,409,631 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $202,771,000 after purchasing an additional 344,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.47% 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.