BMO Capital Markets Downgrades Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) to Market Perform

BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has $33.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company's stock, down from their previous price target of $51.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AXTA. Mizuho set a $35.00 target price on Axalta Coating Systems and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. BNP Paribas raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $39.47.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:AXTA traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $30.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,783,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,119,625. Axalta Coating Systems has a twelve month low of $27.70 and a twelve month high of $41.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.25. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $30.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.05.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 26.30% and a net margin of 8.56%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,242 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,704 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 25,360 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 105.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 949 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. 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.