Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $94.46 and last traded at $92.1070, with a volume of 90257 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $92.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HXL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $94.00 target price on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Hexcel from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $67.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Hexcel from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hexcel currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.17.

Hexcel Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.79, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.26 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $81.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.27.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $491.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $484.46 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 9.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Hexcel has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Hexcel Corporation will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hexcel

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 421,980 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,458,000 after purchasing an additional 86,625 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its holdings in Hexcel by 12.6% in the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 403,881 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,323,000 after buying an additional 45,061 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in Hexcel by 16.7% in the second quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 36,171 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,043,000 after buying an additional 5,179 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 126,794 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,950,000 after buying an additional 8,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hexcel during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,410,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

About Hexcel

Hexcel Corporation is a global leader in advanced composite materials for aerospace and industrial applications. The company specializes in the development and manufacture of lightweight, high-performance products that enhance fuel efficiency, durability and structural strength. Its offerings are critical to the aerospace sector, where demand for lighter, more efficient aircraft drives continuous innovation in materials.

Hexcel’s product portfolio encompasses carbon fiber reinforcements, pre-impregnated composites (prepregs), honeycomb core, engineered adhesives and structural film adhesives.