Grandfield & Dodd LLC Acquires 3,433 Shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 319,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,433 shares during the quarter. Hexcel comprises approximately 1.6% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $23,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,171,181 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $625,933,000 after acquiring an additional 112,122 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 838.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,810,199 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $400,780,000 after purchasing an additional 6,084,592 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted 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. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 11.2% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Eaton Vance Management lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 2,476,907 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $147,301,000 after purchasing an additional 103,891 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 3,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total transaction of $322,335.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,608,074.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 3,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on HXL. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Hexcel in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley cut Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $66.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Hexcel from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group cut Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $72.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hexcel presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.50.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of Hexcel stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $61.71. 1,082,356 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,101,603. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.74. Hexcel Co. has a 1-year low of $58.81 and a 1-year high of $79.08. The company 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $71.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.52.

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

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. This is a positive change from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Hexcel’s payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

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.