Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $35.11, but opened at $36.75. Axalta Coating Systems shares last traded at $37.71, with a volume of 688,503 shares trading hands.

The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. Axalta Coating Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup cut Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 45.7% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,551 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 2,682 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 41.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 55,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,438 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $540,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 26.9% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 57,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,081,000 after purchasing an additional 12,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 56.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.52 and its 200 day moving average is $36.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

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.