SG Americas Securities LLC Buys Shares of 1,684,540 Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,684,540 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $55,876,000. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.77% of Axalta Coating Systems as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXTA. Entropy Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 102.3% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 11,739 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 28,304 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 69,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 6,603 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 1,584.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,313 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 4,057 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 579,424 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $19,828,000 after purchasing an additional 13,483 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Axalta Coating Systems stock traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $30.28. 2,708,983 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,039,380. The firm has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $31.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.45. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1-year low of $27.70 and a 1-year high of $41.66.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.05. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. Axalta Coating Systems's revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.38.

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.