Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its holdings in Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL – Get Rating) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,500 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Hexcel were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Hexcel by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,420,295 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $500,755,000 after purchasing an additional 475,375 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Hexcel by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,778,628 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $299,333,000 after buying an additional 1,111,217 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Hexcel by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,749,016 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $282,424,000 after buying an additional 372,322 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Hexcel by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,742,806 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $222,585,000 after buying an additional 212,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Hexcel by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,409,631 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $202,771,000 after buying an additional 344,711 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 2,500 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.83, for a total transaction of $152,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,068,889.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hexcel Price Performance

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. Hexcel had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 4.79%. The business had revenue of $393.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. Hexcel's quarterly revenue was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Hexcel Co. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Hexcel Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 4th. Hexcel's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on HXL. StockNews.com cut shares of Hexcel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Hexcel from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Hexcel to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Hexcel from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 8th. Finally, Vertical Research raised their target price on shares of Hexcel to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.20.

About Hexcel

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Hexcel Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets structural materials for use in commercial aerospace, space and defense, and industrial markets. It operates through two segments, Composite Materials and Engineered Products. The Composite Materials segment manufactures and markets carbon fibers, fabrics and specialty reinforcements, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, structural adhesives, honeycomb, molding compounds, tooling materials, polyurethane systems, and laminates that are used in military and commercial aircraft, wind turbine blades, recreational products, and other industrial applications, as well as in automotive, marine, and trains.

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