Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

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

Several other analysts have also commented on AXTA. Wolfe Research raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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 restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.08.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

AXTA stock opened at $36.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.55. Axalta Coating Systems has a one year low of $30.41 and a one year high of $41.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.01.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axalta Coating Systems news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total value of $392,869.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,814,180.85. This represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,669,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $132,823,000 after purchasing an additional 31,894 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 68.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 36,191 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 14,704 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 434.3% during the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 39,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after buying an additional 32,135 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 445,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $16,135,000 after buying an additional 24,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 85.3% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 438,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,862,000 after buying an additional 201,766 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

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.