StockNews.com Downgrades Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

AXTA has been the topic of several other research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Axalta Coating Systems from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.60.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Down 0.6 %

AXTA opened at $31.08 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.55. Axalta Coating Systems has a fifty-two week low of $27.70 and a fifty-two week high of $41.66. The company has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.35. 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 (NYSE:AXTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 7.41%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axalta Coating Systems

In other 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 transaction, the insider now owns 74,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,814,180.85. This represents a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 116.3% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 11,757.1% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 105.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 949 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 60.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

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.