Short Interest in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Increases By 6.2%

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, an increase of 6.2% from the August 31st total of 1,290,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 799,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on HXL shares. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Hexcel from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $76.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Hexcel from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Hexcel from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Hexcel from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Hexcel from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.46.

Hexcel Stock Performance

HXL stock traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.84. 665,710 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 877,779. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Hexcel has a 52 week low of $58.54 and a 52 week high of $77.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 52.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.29.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The aerospace company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $500.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $484.26 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 9.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hexcel will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 2.9% during the second quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 5,357 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 2.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,440 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Hexcel by 6.9% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hexcel by 44.6% during the first quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Hexcel by 34.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

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.