New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 29,645 Shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 301,471 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 29,645 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.36% of Hexcel worth $22,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hexcel during the 3rd quarter valued at about $535,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 110.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 641 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 8,774 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 186,550 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $12,152,000 after acquiring an additional 47,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 74,563 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,857,000 after acquiring an additional 20,638 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HXL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Hexcel in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.57.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of Hexcel stock opened at $64.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Hexcel Co. has a 52 week low of $58.81 and a 52 week high of $79.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.43. The company has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.84, a PEG ratio of 1.33 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 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44. Hexcel had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 5.52%. The company had revenue of $472.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Hexcel Co. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.28%.

Insider Transactions at Hexcel

In other news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total value of $62,294.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total value of $322,335.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 50,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,608,074.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $62,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Hexcel 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.