Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 266,907 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. $AXTA

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 6.9% in Q1, owning approximately 4.14 million shares worth around $137.34 million.
• Axalta Coating Systems reported $0.64 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $0.61, although revenue fell 3.4% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors own 98.28% of Axalta Coating Systems' stock, indicating strong confidence from hedge funds in the company's future performance.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,140,945 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 266,907 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.89% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $137,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,242 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,704 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 25,360 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 105.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 949 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $34.00 target price (down previously from $35.00) on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Friday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Axalta Coating Systems from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Amy Tufano sold 3,194 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total value of $99,205.64. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 12,087 shares in the company, valued at $375,422.22. The trade was a 20.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

NYSE:AXTA traded up $1.0460 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $31.8160. The stock had a trading volume of 3,850,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,258,979. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.27. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a one year low of $27.58 and a one year high of $41.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.12.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 25.32% and a net margin of 8.58%.Axalta Coating Systems's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. Axalta Coating Systems has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.450-2.550 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.630-0.670 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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.