Insider Selling: Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Insider Sells $151,662.54 in Stock

Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) insider Lyndon John Smith sold 2,077 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.02, for a total transaction of $151,662.54. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $615,266.52. This represents a 19.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Hexcel Price Performance

NYSE HXL opened at $71.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $64.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.00. Hexcel Corporation has a 52-week low of $45.28 and a 52-week high of $74.35. The company has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a PE ratio of 83.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.33.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.01). Hexcel had a net margin of 3.67% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The business had revenue of $456.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $449.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. Hexcel’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Hexcel has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.700-1.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hexcel Corporation will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HXL shares. Citigroup reissued a “reduce” rating on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $67.00 target price on shares of Hexcel and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hexcel currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HXL. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 1,918.9% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,178,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $123,050,000 after buying an additional 2,070,366 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hexcel by 103.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,759,673 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $155,894,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405,538 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Hexcel in the second quarter worth $57,697,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hexcel by 416.9% in the first quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,166,489 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $63,877,000 after acquiring an additional 940,839 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Hexcel in the second quarter worth $48,694,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

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.