Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.38.

AXTA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $30.19. 2,277,397 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,040,328. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.40 and a 200 day moving average of $34.42. 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 quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.05. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 7.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,637,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $386,000,000 after purchasing an additional 356,143 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 988,397 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 29.8% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,250,351 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $240,494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663,261 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,730,406 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $223,248,000 after acquiring an additional 132,234 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,140,945 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $137,344,000 after acquiring an additional 266,907 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.