Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Sets New 12-Month High After Strong Earnings

Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $35.00 and last traded at $35.00, with a volume of 270646 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $34.21.

The specialty chemicals company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 5.16%. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AXTA shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group cut Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $36.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.23.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 67.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 422,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $14,516,000 after acquiring an additional 169,434 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 0.3% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 276,369 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,504,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,518,000 after acquiring an additional 19,720 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.8% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 36,100 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems during the first quarter worth approximately $323,000. Institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.51.

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.