American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stake in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 66.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,198,136 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 480,207 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 1.48% of Hexcel worth $75,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HXL. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Hexcel by 53.8% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 932 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,060,727 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $65,585,000 after acquiring an additional 10,479 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Hexcel by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 54,468 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after purchasing an additional 14,455 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Hexcel by 9.0% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 92,441 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,716,000 after purchasing an additional 7,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Hexcel by 52.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 586,217 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $36,246,000 after purchasing an additional 200,722 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HXL shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Hexcel from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Hexcel from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Hexcel to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Hexcel from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Hexcel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.09.

Hexcel Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE:HXL opened at $57.64 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $62.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.25. Hexcel Co. has a 12-month low of $55.25 and a 12-month high of $73.58.

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

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. This is an increase from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.77%.

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.