Short Interest in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Increases By 60.9%

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,140,000 shares, an increase of 60.9% from the October 15th total of 1,330,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 718,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Hexcel Stock Performance

HXL opened at $59.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.12 and a 200-day moving average of $63.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.76. Hexcel has a 52-week low of $57.50 and a 52-week high of $77.09. The company has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of 45.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.30.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 5.73%. The company had revenue of $457.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $457.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hexcel will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hexcel

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Hexcel by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,914,296 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $576,556,000 after buying an additional 67,425 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Hexcel by 2.9% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,835,994 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $302,008,000 after acquiring an additional 136,290 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hexcel by 277.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,695,343 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $105,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,765 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Hexcel by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,600,619 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $98,966,000 after purchasing an additional 425,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Hexcel by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,406,287 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $87,829,000 after purchasing an additional 103,679 shares during the period. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 decreased their price objective on Hexcel from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Vertical Research downgraded Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Hexcel from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.54.

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.