Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Acquires 1,663,261 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. $AXTA

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. has increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 29.8%, acquiring an additional 1,663,261 shares, bringing its total ownership to 7,250,351 shares, making it the fund's 15th largest position.
• Analyst ratings for Axalta have been mixed, with Goldman Sachs lowering its price target from $46.00 to $40.00 but maintaining a "buy" rating, while Deutsche Bank downgraded its rating from "buy" to "hold" with a target of $32.00.
• Axalta Coating Systems reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.64 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst estimates of $0.61, despite experiencing a 3.4% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) by 29.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,250,351 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 1,663,261 shares during the quarter. Axalta Coating Systems accounts for approximately 0.9% of Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned 3.32% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $240,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 374,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $12,803,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,127,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 16,630 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 71.1% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 264,366 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $9,049,000 after acquiring an additional 109,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 24,931 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 3,176 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Axalta Coating Systems

In related news, SVP Amy Tufano sold 3,194 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 12,087 shares in the company, valued at $375,422.22. This trade represents a 20.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AXTA. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $32.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. 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 research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.71.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Axalta Coating Systems stock traded up $1.0460 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $31.8160. 3,850,407 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,166,777. The company has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12-month low of $27.58 and a 12-month high of $41.65.

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, 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 revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. Axalta Coating Systems has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.450-2.550 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.630-0.670 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Axalta Coating Systems 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.