Hexcel Co. (HXL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 on May 10th

Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 22nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share by the aerospace company on Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd.

Hexcel has increased its dividend payment by an average of 43.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Hexcel has a dividend payout ratio of 20.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Hexcel to earn $2.93 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.5%.

Hexcel Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HXL opened at $63.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $71.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.74. The firm has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.31, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.23. Hexcel has a 1 year low of $58.81 and a 1 year high of $79.08.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44. The firm had revenue of $472.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.93 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 5.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Hexcel will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Hexcel

In other news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 is accessible through this link. Also, insider Gina Fitzsimons sold 864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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. 1.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HXL. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Hexcel from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Hexcel from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Hexcel from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.50.

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.