MQS Management LLC Takes Position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 11,356 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $411,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXTA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 2.4% in 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 during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,745,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the first quarter worth $686,000. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in Axalta Coating Systems during the first quarter worth $12,556,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 896,188 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,623,000 after buying an additional 25,717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock opened at $40.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.46 and its 200 day moving average is $35.51. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1 year low of $30.40 and a 1 year high of $40.76.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.08. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 6.22%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Axalta Coating Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AXTA shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.45.

Axalta Coating Systems 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.