Insider Buying: Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) CEO Acquires $964,350.00 in Stock

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) CEO Nick L. Stanage purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.29 per share, with a total value of $964,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 392,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,230,353.34. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Hexcel Price Performance

HXL stock opened at $66.31 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.40. Hexcel Co. has a 12-month low of $58.81 and a 12-month high of $79.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 56.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44. Hexcel had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 5.52%. The firm had revenue of $472.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Hexcel Co. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hexcel during the first quarter worth about $576,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 2.3% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 39,912 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,908,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 0.6% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 105,969 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,720,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Hexcel in the first quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 2.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 317,712 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $23,145,000 after acquiring an additional 8,904 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HXL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Hexcel from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Hexcel from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Northcoast Research downgraded Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. 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 research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hexcel presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.57.

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.