Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 4,476 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 1,748.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,732 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,476 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTA. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 116.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 35.2% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,021 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in Axalta Coating Systems during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

AXTA stock opened at $38.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of 25.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.37. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $30.40 and a fifty-two week 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 6.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup downgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

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.