Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Cut to “Neutral” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $32.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $42.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AXTA. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $37.00 target price on Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Six equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.60.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Down 0.6 %

AXTA opened at $31.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Axalta Coating Systems has a 12 month low of $27.70 and a 12 month high of $41.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.55.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 7.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total value of $392,869.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,814,180.85. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,321,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $387,439,000 after purchasing an additional 988,397 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,280,882 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $386,032,000 after buying an additional 50,520 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,598,172 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $225,789,000 after acquiring an additional 82,200 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,587,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $191,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,980,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,874,038 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $132,568,000 after acquiring an additional 93,298 shares during the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.