Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AXTA. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,657,696 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $125,292,000 after acquiring an additional 382,949 shares during the period. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP grew its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 49.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 2,952,198 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $79,414,000 after purchasing an additional 974,973 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 11.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,470,860 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $362,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,723 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 11.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,644,246 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $71,130,000 after purchasing an additional 272,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospector Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 10.2% in the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 323,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,714,000 after purchasing an additional 29,930 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Axalta Coating Systems stock opened at $35.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.07. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1 year low of $25.03 and a 1 year high of $35.31.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 4.77% and a return on equity of 21.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AXTA shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

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.