Leeward Investments LLC MA Reduces Stock Position in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Leeward Investments LLC MA reduced its holdings in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 341,795 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 6,221 shares during the period. Hexcel makes up 1.2% of Leeward Investments LLC MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $25,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hexcel in the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in shares of Hexcel in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Hexcel by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,974 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $957,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake in shares of Hexcel by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 319,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $23,581,000 after buying an additional 3,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 10,251 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. 95.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on HXL. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Hexcel from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.57.

Hexcel Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:HXL opened at $64.13 on Friday. Hexcel Co. has a one year low of $58.81 and a one year high of $79.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.74. The firm has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.42.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.44. The firm had revenue of $472.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.93 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 8.97%. Hexcel’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Hexcel Co. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.