Dark Forest Capital Management LP Acquires 12,254 Shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 175.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,247 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 12,254 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $1,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Hexcel by 995.9% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 40,867 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,567,000 after acquiring an additional 37,138 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 315.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,363 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares during the period. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hexcel by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 290,988 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $18,245,000 after buying an additional 46,115 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Hexcel by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 45,667 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,863,000 after acquiring an additional 3,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,437,058 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $90,104,000 after purchasing an additional 24,393 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Hexcel to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Hexcel from $53.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Hexcel from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $61.00 to $50.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Hexcel from $72.00 to $52.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.40.

Hexcel Stock Performance

NYSE HXL opened at $49.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08. Hexcel Co. has a twelve month low of $45.28 and a twelve month high of $73.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.34 and a 200 day moving average of $60.82. 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 released its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The aerospace company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $456.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $482.18 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 6.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hexcel Co. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.77%.

Hexcel 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.