Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Evercore ISI

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) was upgraded by equities researchers at Evercore ISI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $42.45.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXTA traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $40.27. 347,238 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,020,208. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.43. Axalta Coating Systems has a 1-year low of $30.40 and a 1-year high of $40.91.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.08. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 6.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the third quarter worth $41,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 28.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 160,458 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,806,000 after buying an additional 35,496 shares in the last quarter. Atom Investors LP increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 198.6% during the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 380,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,774,000 after buying an additional 253,142 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the third quarter worth $326,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 139.9% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,728 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 3,340 shares in the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.