SG Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

SG Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 328,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,280,000. Axalta Coating Systems comprises approximately 3.7% of SG Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. SG Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Axalta Coating Systems as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,763,601 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $817,230,000 after buying an additional 554,806 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 1,856.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,866,601 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $199,288,000 after buying an additional 5,566,757 shares during the period. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 63.8% in the first quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,198,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $109,989,000 after buying an additional 1,245,223 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Axalta Coating Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,878,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,216,463 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $75,293,000 after buying an additional 631,975 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.91.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AXTA traded down $1.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,428,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,161,700. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.72, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.26 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a one year low of $25.03 and a one year high of $37.49.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 24.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.