Channing Capital Management LLC Buys 105,510 Shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,128,681 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 105,510 shares during the period. Hexcel accounts for approximately 1.9% of Channing Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Channing Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $70,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Hexcel by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,279 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Hexcel by 52.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 2,780 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Hexcel by 18.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Hexcel by 92.1% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 16,334 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 7,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Hexcel by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 31,086 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HXL shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Hexcel from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Hexcel to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Hexcel from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Hexcel from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hexcel has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.09.

Hexcel Stock Down 2.9 %

HXL opened at $56.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.35 and a 200-day moving average of $62.67. Hexcel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $56.02 and a fifty-two week high of $75.86. The company has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.30.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The aerospace company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Hexcel had a net margin of 6.94% and a return on equity of 10.66%. On average, equities analysts expect that Hexcel Co. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. This is an increase from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.77%.

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.