Short Interest in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Increases By 20.4%

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,200,000 shares, an increase of 20.4% from the January 31st total of 4,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:AXTA opened at $34.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45. Axalta Coating Systems has a 1-year low of $30.41 and a 1-year high of $41.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $35.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.68.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 7.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Axalta Coating Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AXTA. Wolfe Research raised Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup lowered Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com lowered Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,180.85. This represents a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $2,413,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 103,938 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,557,000 after purchasing an additional 20,738 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 929,215 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,798,000 after purchasing an additional 296,198 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 10,130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 91.4% in the 4th quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP now owns 125,682 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,301,000 after purchasing an additional 60,021 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.