New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 47,981 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXTA. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 168.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,481 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 18,496 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in Axalta Coating Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $214,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 151.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 633,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $22,909,000 after buying an additional 381,488 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 12.9% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,940 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 2,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 15.3% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 40,552 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after acquiring an additional 5,374 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho cut their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup downgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.08.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

AXTA stock opened at $32.87 on Monday. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1 year low of $30.41 and a 1 year high of $41.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.57.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axalta Coating Systems

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total value of $392,869.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,180.85. This trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.