Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Upgraded to “Outperform” at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. BNP Paribas currently has $38.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price target 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, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.64.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 4.8 %

AXTA opened at $30.24 on Thursday. Axalta Coating Systems has a 12 month low of $27.70 and a 12 month high of $41.66. The stock has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $34.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.20. 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 data on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Axalta Coating Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXTA. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 116.3% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 11,757.1% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 60.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 156.4% in the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,238 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 1,365 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.