Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) Short Interest Up 60.9% in October

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,140,000 shares, a growth of 60.9% from the October 15th total of 1,330,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 718,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Hexcel by 588.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 205,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $12,704,000 after acquiring an additional 175,608 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hexcel during the third quarter worth approximately $739,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Hexcel in the third quarter worth approximately $1,634,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Hexcel by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 10,375 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,493 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,791,000 after acquiring an additional 8,135 shares in the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hexcel Stock Performance

HXL stock traded down $1.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $60.08. The company had a trading volume of 149,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 867,064. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 46.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.30. Hexcel has a fifty-two week low of $57.50 and a fifty-two week high of $77.09.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 9.99%. The firm had revenue of $457.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Hexcel’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Hexcel will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Hexcel from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Hexcel from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $76.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Vertical Research lowered Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Hexcel from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Hexcel from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.54.

Hexcel Company Profile

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.