Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Reaches New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $37.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Axalta Coating Systems traded as low as $27.70 and last traded at $31.80, with a volume of 5052744 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.49.

AXTA has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup cut their target price 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. Wolfe Research upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Axalta Coating Systems 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 transaction of $392,869.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,814,180.85. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Axalta Coating Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXTA. 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 valued at $387,439,000 after acquiring an additional 988,397 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 50,520 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,598,172 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $225,789,000 after purchasing an additional 82,200 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,980,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,874,038 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $132,568,000 after buying an additional 93,298 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $34.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.33.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Axalta Coating Systems's revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.