Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Shares Acquired by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 9.8%, now owning approximately 0.27% of the company, valued at $19.46 million.
• Several analysts have downgraded Axalta’s stock ratings, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. reducing their target price from $42.00 to $32.00.
• Axalta reported earnings per share of $0.64 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations but showing a 3.4% revenue decline compared to the previous year.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 586,712 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,466 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $19,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 3,005.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 76,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 74,380 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 502,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $16,654,000 after purchasing an additional 2,099 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the 1st quarter worth about $204,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the 1st quarter worth about $572,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 77,859 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 8,412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXTA. Barclays lowered 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 report on Thursday, May 15th. 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.71.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE AXTA traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.38. 1,811,626 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,294,491. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $29.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.53. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12-month low of $27.58 and a 12-month high of $41.65. The firm has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.27.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 25.32%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. Axalta Coating Systems's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal 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.