Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Short Interest Down 12.8% in May

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,060,000 shares, a decrease of 12.8% from the April 30th total of 5,800,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

AXTA stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $30.74. 1,564,258 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,040,615. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.58. Axalta Coating Systems has a one year low of $27.70 and a one year high of $41.66. The company has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AXTA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on 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. Mizuho set a $37.00 target price on Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Axalta Coating Systems from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXTA. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 11,757.1% in the 1st 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. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 105.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 949 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 60.7% in the 4th 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 during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 951.6% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,325 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,365 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.28% of the company's stock.

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.