Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Short Interest Update

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,710,000 shares, an increase of 13.3% from the August 31st total of 5,040,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,920,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXTA. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Axalta Coating Systems during the second quarter worth $82,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $540,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 41.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 55,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,438 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems during the 2nd quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 45.7% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,551 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 2,682 shares in the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXTA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays raised their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXTA opened at $36.18 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.58. The company has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.44. Axalta Coating Systems has a 52 week low of $25.03 and a 52 week high of $37.78.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 24.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. Research analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current 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.