Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

AXTA has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho reduced their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target 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. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.08.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Up 0.5 %

AXTA stock opened at $37.11 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Axalta Coating Systems has a 12-month low of $30.41 and a 12-month high of $41.65. The company has a market cap of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the business’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 transaction of $392,869.49. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,905 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $87,850,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 54.9% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,587,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $191,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,980,296 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Axalta Coating Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $56,215,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 144.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,950,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153,620 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,321,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $387,439,000 after purchasing an additional 988,397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.