Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Lowers Stake in Hexcel Corporation $HXL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL cut its holdings in shares of Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 262,036 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 8,497 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned approximately 0.33% of Hexcel worth $16,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Hexcel by 4.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,690,924 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $264,990,000 after purchasing an additional 191,649 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hexcel by 103.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,759,673 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $155,894,000 after buying an additional 1,405,538 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 49.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,440,242 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $137,850,000 after buying an additional 803,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,283,626 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $129,002,000 after buying an additional 126,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Hexcel by 1,918.9% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,178,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $123,050,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070,366 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Amy S. Evans sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.80, for a total value of $139,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $183,651.20. This represents a 43.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HXL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Hexcel from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, January 30th. 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 research report on Sunday, February 1st. Truist Financial set a $94.00 target price on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Hexcel from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Hexcel from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.17.

Hexcel Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of HXL opened at $88.62 on Friday. Hexcel Corporation has a 52-week low of $45.28 and a 52-week high of $95.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.87. The company has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a PE ratio of 64.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Hexcel Increases Dividend

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

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.