Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $95.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $81.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 33.46% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HXL. UBS Group decreased their target price on Hexcel from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $70.00 to $66.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Hexcel from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hexcel has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.57.

Hexcel Stock Up 1.1 %

HXL stock opened at $71.18 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.50. The stock has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a PE ratio of 60.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.25. Hexcel has a fifty-two week low of $58.81 and a fifty-two week high of $79.08.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.44. Hexcel had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 5.52%. The firm had revenue of $472.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.93 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hexcel will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hexcel

In other news, CEO Nick L. Stanage bought 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.29 per share, with a total value of $964,350.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 392,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,230,353.34. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Hexcel news, CEO Nick L. Stanage bought 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.29 per share, for a total transaction of $964,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 392,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,230,353.34. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.13 per share, with a total value of $641,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,141,706.39. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 43,400 shares of company stock worth $2,820,322. 1.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HXL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,846,871 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $578,707,000 after acquiring an additional 27,850 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Hexcel by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,344,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $282,983,000 after purchasing an additional 47,591 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hexcel by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,503,055 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $110,850,000 after buying an additional 724,280 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 143.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,466,380 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $108,146,000 after buying an additional 864,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,462,293 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $95,254,000 after purchasing an additional 231,207 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.