Shellback Capital LP Purchases Shares of 226,185 Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Shellback Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 226,185 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,740,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXTA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $87,850,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,587,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $191,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980,296 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $56,215,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 144.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,950,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 1.5%

AXTA stock opened at $32.36 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.35. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 52-week low of $27.70 and a 52-week high of $41.66. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.48.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AXTA shares. Mizuho set a $37.00 target price on Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Axalta Coating Systems from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, May 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 report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.38.

Axalta Coating Systems 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.