Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Guggenheim

Guggenheim upgraded shares of Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on HXL. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Hexcel from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Hexcel from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.25.

Hexcel Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HXL opened at $91.11 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.43, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Hexcel has a 1-year low of $60.26 and a 1-year high of $111.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $99.15 and its 200 day moving average is $92.81.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The aerospace company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $529.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $528.08 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 7.76%.Hexcel’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Hexcel has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.300-2.400 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hexcel will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hexcel

In other Hexcel news, insider Gail E. Lehman sold 13,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.10, for a total value of $1,273,650.90. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,855,630.80. This trade represents a 40.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 9,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.14, for a total transaction of $997,879.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $795,415.68. This trade represents a 55.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hexcel

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Hexcel during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,422,742,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,506,068 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $185,199,000 after buying an additional 7,371 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,264,427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $183,260,000 after buying an additional 115,443 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hexcel by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419,722 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $104,943,000 after buying an additional 11,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Hexcel in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,460,000. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hexcel Company Profile

Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) develops and manufactures advanced composite materials and structural solutions for the aerospace, defense, space, and industrial markets. Its products are designed to provide high strength and stiffness while reducing weight compared with many traditional materials.

The company’s portfolio includes carbon fibers, specialty reinforcements, prepregs, honeycomb sandwich structures, adhesives, and composite tooling materials. These products are used in aircraft structures, helicopter components, rocket and satellite systems, wind turbine blades, and other applications that require lightweight, durable, and high-performance materials.

Hexcel traces its history to 1946 and serves customers through manufacturing operations and commercial activities in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.