Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

AXTA has been the topic of a number of other reports. 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 research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.08.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Shares of AXTA opened at $36.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Axalta Coating Systems has a 1-year low of $30.41 and a 1-year high of $41.65. The stock has a market cap of $7.86 billion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.56.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 74,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,814,180.85. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,449 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 2,898 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 48.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 168,187 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,087,000 after purchasing an additional 54,746 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 14.1% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,599 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $341,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,308 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 5,667 shares during the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.