Brandes Investment Partners LP Increases Stock Position in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 99.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,304,669 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 651,062 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned 1.61% of Hexcel worth $81,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HXL. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 92.1% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 16,334 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 7,829 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in shares of Hexcel by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 31,086 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,922,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Hexcel during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $499,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Hexcel by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Hexcel Trading Up 1.8 %

HXL stock opened at $56.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.48. Hexcel Co. has a 52 week low of $55.24 and a 52 week high of $73.58.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The aerospace company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Hexcel had a net margin of 6.94% and a return on equity of 10.66%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hexcel Co. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. This is a boost from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is 42.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Hexcel from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Hexcel to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Hexcel from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Hexcel from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.09.

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.