Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 17,666 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. $AXTA

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 476,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 17,666 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $13,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 17,456,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $564,035,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815,715 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 887.2% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 12,575,932 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $406,328,000 after acquiring an additional 11,301,977 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,941,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $224,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,845,353 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,825,946 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $107,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,083 shares during the period. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 672.6% in the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 3,037,990 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $98,157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644,783 shares in the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock opened at $32.76 on Friday. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1 year low of $24.94 and a 1 year high of $35.72. The firm has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.35 and a 200 day moving average of $31.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.22% and a return on equity of 22.37%. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Axalta Coating Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.550-2.70 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.650-0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $36.00 target price on Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Friday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.67.

Axalta Coating Systems Profile

Axalta Coating Systems is a global leader in the development, manufacture and sale of liquid and powder coatings. The company’s product portfolio spans refinish coatings for the automotive collision repair market, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) coatings for new vehicle production, and industrial coatings including electrodeposition (E-coat) and powder coatings for a variety of sectors such as architecture, heavy equipment and general industrial applications.

Tracing its roots to the 19th century and rebranded as Axalta following its separation from DuPont Performance Coatings in 2013, the company has built a presence in more than 100 countries.