Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Decreases Stock Position in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $1,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hexcel during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,770,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 9,918 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,974 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hexcel during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Hexcel by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,377,915 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $101,621,000 after purchasing an additional 81,389 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Hexcel Price Performance

Hexcel stock opened at $63.97 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.70 and a 200-day moving average of $67.78. Hexcel Co. has a 52-week low of $58.81 and a 52-week high of $77.09. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.68, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.28.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The aerospace company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $500.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $484.26 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.55% and a net margin of 5.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Hexcel Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of 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 lowered their target price on shares of Hexcel from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Hexcel from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Hexcel from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.54.

Hexcel Company 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.