Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $48.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Axalta Coating Systems traded as high as $40.53 and last traded at $40.41, with a volume of 243697 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.60.

AXTA has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.45.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,763,601 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $817,230,000 after buying an additional 554,806 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the first quarter worth $1,745,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the first quarter worth $686,000. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the first quarter worth $12,556,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 3.0% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 896,188 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,623,000 after purchasing an additional 25,717 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Up 2.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 6.22%. Axalta Coating Systems’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

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.