Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.15

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 22nd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share by the aerospace company on Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%.

Hexcel has increased its dividend by an average of 43.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Hexcel has a dividend payout ratio of 20.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Hexcel to earn $2.93 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.5%.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HXL opened at $62.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Hexcel has a 52 week low of $58.81 and a 52 week high of $79.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.55.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $472.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.93 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 9.31%. Hexcel’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hexcel will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HXL. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group cut Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Hexcel from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.50.

Insider Activity at Hexcel

In related news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total value of $62,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total value of $62,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total value of $322,335.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,608,074.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Hexcel

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.