Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $2.10 Million Position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 61,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $2,099,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXTA. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Axalta Coating Systems in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 47.7% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,046 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,474 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,160 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $31.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,537,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,911,426. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a one year low of $25.03 and a one year high of $34.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.51. The business's fifty day moving average price is $32.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.49.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.01). Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 5.16%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXTA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.70.

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.