Short Interest in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Decreases By 8.6%

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,810,000 shares, a decline of 8.6% from the March 15th total of 6,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $36.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.70.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 0.5 %

Axalta Coating Systems stock traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $31.54. 1,705,038 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,915,826. Axalta Coating Systems has a one year low of $25.03 and a one year high of $34.53. The company has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $32.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 5.16% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXTA. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 65.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 25,806,208 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $781,670,000 after purchasing an additional 10,208,408 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 1,856.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,866,601 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $199,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,566,757 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 5,915.6% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 5,193,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $132,290,000 after acquiring an additional 5,107,608 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 68.2% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,639,964 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $201,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter worth $82,878,000. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.