First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Holdings in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,592 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 9,492 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hexcel by 2.0% in the third quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 124,145 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,676,000 after purchasing an additional 2,485 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Hexcel by 47.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,369 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 8,154 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Hexcel by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,784 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Hexcel in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. 95.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HXL has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Hexcel from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Hexcel from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $76.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com raised Hexcel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Vertical Research lowered Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.54.

Hexcel Stock Performance

NYSE:HXL opened at $58.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.94, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.76. Hexcel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $57.50 and a fifty-two week high of $77.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.12.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 5.73%. The firm had revenue of $457.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $457.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Hexcel Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Hexcel’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

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.