Wells Fargo & Company Increases Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Price Target to $40.00

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $37.00 to $40.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 28.70% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. BNP Paribas raised Axalta Coating Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup cut their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Mizuho set a $37.00 price objective on Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $42.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.60.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of AXTA opened at $31.08 on Thursday. Axalta Coating Systems has a 1 year low of $27.70 and a 1 year high of $41.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.55.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last issued its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axalta Coating Systems 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 transaction, the insider now owns 74,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,814,180.85. This represents a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $87,850,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $191,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980,296 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Axalta Coating Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $55,876,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,215,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 144.7% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,950,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,760,000 after buying an additional 1,153,620 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.