Wells Fargo upgrades Hexcel to Overweight, raises price target to $95

As previously reported, Wells Fargo analyst Matthew Akers upgraded Hexcel (HXL) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $95, up from $81. The firm sees upside to numbers, less Boeing (BA) 737 MAX risk versus peers and a stock unfairly punished for its CEO transition. While commercial aerospace is likely to grow 2-3-times over the next decade, aerospace composites are likely to grow about 6-times as next generation narrow-bodies use much more composite, Wells argues. The firm thinks a new program launch is at least a couple of years away, but Boeing’s CEO change could increase the urgency for a new plane, likely a major catalyst for Hexcel’s stock.