173,397 Shares in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Bought by Polymer Capital Management US LLC

Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 173,397 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,934,000. Axalta Coating Systems accounts for 1.6% of Polymer Capital Management US LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,014,166 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,683,000 after buying an additional 104,533 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Axalta Coating Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $425,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 442,412 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,139,000 after acquiring an additional 10,802 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 100,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,451,000 after acquiring an additional 2,583 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 265,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,078,000 after purchasing an additional 19,692 shares in the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXTA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axalta Coating Systems

In other news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total transaction of $392,869.49. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,814,180.85. This represents a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 5.8 %

NYSE AXTA opened at $29.73 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.47. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a one year low of $28.95 and a one year high of $41.66. The firm has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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.