Stifel Nicolaus Lowers Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Price Target to $86.00

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $90.00 to $86.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the aerospace company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target suggests a potential upside of 40.07% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group cut Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $87.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley cut Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Hexcel from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hexcel currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.93.

Hexcel Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE HXL opened at $61.40 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $71.60 and its 200-day moving average is $69.54. Hexcel has a one year low of $58.81 and a one year high of $79.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.52, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.06). Hexcel had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The firm had revenue of $457.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $474.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Hexcel will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hexcel news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total value of $322,335.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,608,074.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Hexcel news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total value of $322,335.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,608,074.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total value of $62,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hexcel

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in shares of Hexcel during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Hexcel during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 100.0% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 68.1% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 442 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning purchased a new stake in shares of Hexcel during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

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.