Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Short Interest Down 5.1% in September

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, a decline of 5.1% from the September 15th total of 1,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 748,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HXL opened at $61.92 on Thursday. Hexcel has a fifty-two week low of $57.50 and a fifty-two week high of $77.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.29.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The aerospace company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $500.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $484.26 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.55% and a net margin of 5.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Hexcel will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Hexcel

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HXL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Hexcel during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hexcel by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in Hexcel during the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Hexcel by 34.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Hexcel during the 1st quarter worth about $119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on HXL. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Hexcel from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Hexcel from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Hexcel from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.46.

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.