Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Has $1.90 Million Holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. decreased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 97.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 55,635 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,936,025 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $1,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Entropy Technologies LP grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 102.3% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 11,739 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935 shares during the period. Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter worth $202,000. Optas LLC grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 6,024 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $181,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 53.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,996 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 3,137 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of 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 report on Friday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.08.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock opened at $37.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $8.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.35 and its 200-day moving average is $36.44. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a one year low of $30.40 and a one year high of $41.65.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.