Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Rating Increased to Outperform at Royal Bank of Canada

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) was upgraded by Royal Bank of Canada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Finviz reports. The firm currently has a $74.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $68.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price points to a potential upside of 20.11% from the stock’s current price.

HXL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Vertical Research lowered shares of Hexcel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Hexcel from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Hexcel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.33.

Hexcel Stock Down 3.1 %

Hexcel stock opened at $61.61 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.64. 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 market cap of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.30. Hexcel has a twelve month low of $57.50 and a twelve month high of $77.09.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $457.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.07 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 5.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Hexcel will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hexcel

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. increased 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 worth $15,140,000 after purchasing an additional 32,960 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 12.3% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 581,557 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $35,957,000 after purchasing an additional 63,730 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hexcel by 215.5% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 865,235 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $54,034,000 after buying an additional 590,975 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Hexcel in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 8,135 shares during the period. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.