Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Earns Neutral Rating from Citigroup

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Citigroup in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $34.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company's stock, down from their prior target price of $35.00. Citigroup's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.15% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AXTA. BNP Paribas raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.50.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Axalta Coating Systems stock traded up $0.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $29.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,406,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,234,658. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock's 50 day moving average is $31.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.17. Axalta Coating Systems has a 1 year low of $27.70 and a 1 year high of $41.65. The stock has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.27.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.05. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $87,850,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 54.9% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,587,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $191,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980,296 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems in the first quarter valued at approximately $57,682,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $55,876,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,215,000. Institutional investors own 98.28% of the company's stock.

About Axalta Coating Systems

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.