Sasco Capital Inc. CT Increases Stock Position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Sasco Capital Inc. CT raised its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 501,530 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,420 shares during the period. Axalta Coating Systems accounts for approximately 2.7% of Sasco Capital Inc. CT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Sasco Capital Inc. CT’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $18,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 166,916 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,041,000 after buying an additional 1,735 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems in the third quarter valued at about $361,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 582,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $21,062,000 after buying an additional 154,305 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 27.9% in the third quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 22,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $820,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Finally, AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Axalta Coating Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $133,000. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE AXTA opened at $39.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.00. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 52 week low of $30.40 and a 52 week high of $40.91.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXTA shares. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.45.

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.