National Bank of Canada FI Sells 18,470 Shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its position in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 98,796 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 18,470 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $6,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Hexcel by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,835,994 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $302,008,000 after purchasing an additional 136,290 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 277.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,695,343 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $105,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,765 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 36.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,600,619 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $98,966,000 after purchasing an additional 425,402 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Hexcel by 8.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,406,287 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $87,829,000 after buying an additional 103,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Hexcel by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,161,415 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $71,810,000 after buying an additional 129,335 shares in the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hexcel Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE HXL opened at $63.89 on Friday. Hexcel Co. has a 52 week low of $57.50 and a 52 week high of $77.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.85.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $457.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $457.07 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 9.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hexcel Co. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on HXL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Hexcel from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Hexcel from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Hexcel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.83.

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.