Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $35.11, but opened at $36.75. Axalta Coating Systems shares last traded at $37.71, with a volume of 688,503 shares traded.

The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 6.22%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXTA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $41.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXTA. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 45.7% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,551 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 2,682 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 41.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 55,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,913,000 after buying an additional 16,438 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems during the 2nd quarter worth $540,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 57,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,081,000 after buying an additional 12,200 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 56.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $36.70 and its 200-day moving average is $36.37.

Axalta Coating Systems Company Profile

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.