Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Purchases 15,744 Shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 250,300 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,744 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $15,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,545 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Hexcel by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 208,529 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $13,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,040 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Hexcel in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,013,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hexcel during the second quarter valued at approximately $450,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 14.0% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HXL opened at $61.10 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.11. Hexcel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.54 and a fifty-two week high of $77.09. The company has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.75.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The aerospace company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.55% and a net margin of 5.78%. The business had revenue of $500.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $484.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Hexcel Co. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HXL shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Hexcel from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Hexcel from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Hexcel from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Hexcel from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.54.

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.