New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 1,281 Shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,281 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $3,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hexcel by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 244,873 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $15,140,000 after buying an additional 32,960 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Hexcel by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,023 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,330,000 after buying an additional 17,011 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Hexcel by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 581,557 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $35,957,000 after buying an additional 63,730 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Hexcel by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,493 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,791,000 after buying an additional 8,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kopion Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Hexcel by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Kopion Asset Management LLC now owns 97,960 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,142,000 after buying an additional 9,861 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HXL opened at $62.68 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.80. Hexcel Co. has a 1-year low of $57.50 and a 1-year high of $77.09. The stock has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The aerospace company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Hexcel had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 6.94%. As a group, analysts forecast that Hexcel Co. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. This is a positive change from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HXL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hexcel currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.09.

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.