HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Makes New $6.63 Million Investment in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. $AXTA

Key Points

• HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC has made a new investment of approximately $6.63 million in Axalta Coating Systems by purchasing 200,000 shares.
• Axalta Coating Systems reported a quarterly EPS of $0.64, exceeding estimates, but its revenue was slightly below expectations at $1.32 billion.
• Institutional investors hold a significant majority, owning 98.28% of Axalta Coating Systems' stock, indicating strong confidence in the company's performance.

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 200,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $6,634,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned 0.09% of Axalta Coating Systems at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AXTA. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 11,757.1% during the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 830 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 105.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 949 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 951.6% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,325 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 31.1% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,744 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised 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 worth $123,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.28% of the company's stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 0.7%

AXTA opened at $30.40 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.27. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 52 week low of $27.58 and a 52 week high of $41.65. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $29.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.07. 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 (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.33 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 25.32% and a net margin of 8.58%. The business's revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AXTA shares. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $51.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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. Barclays dropped their target price on 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.71.

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.

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