Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on AXTA. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $41.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.08.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

AXTA opened at $37.42 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a PE ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.46. Axalta Coating Systems has a twelve month low of $30.41 and a twelve month high of $41.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. Axalta Coating Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total transaction of $392,869.49. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,814,180.85. This represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 7,353 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 24,931 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 3,176 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 71.1% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 264,366 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,049,000 after buying an additional 109,883 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 16,630 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 960 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,127,000. 98.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Axalta Coating Systems

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes high-performance coatings systems in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Mobility Coatings.