Robert W. Baird Boosts Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Price Target to $42.00

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) had its target price upped by Robert W. Baird from $40.00 to $42.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

AXTA has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $41.00.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Down 3.2 %

Axalta Coating Systems stock opened at $34.08 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.69, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.44. Axalta Coating Systems has a 52-week low of $25.03 and a 52-week high of $37.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 24.28%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Axalta Coating Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXTA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,763,601 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $817,230,000 after purchasing an additional 554,806 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 5.6% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,403,246 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $355,479,000 after purchasing an additional 550,970 shares during the last quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 63.8% in the first quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,198,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $109,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,223 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,878,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,216,463 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $75,293,000 after buying an additional 631,975 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

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.