First Trust Advisors LP Sells 160,978 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. $AXTA

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 31.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 345,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 160,978 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.16% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $9,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 17,456,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $564,035,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815,715 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 887.2% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 12,575,932 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $406,328,000 after purchasing an additional 11,301,977 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 10.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,695,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $213,143,000 after purchasing an additional 754,098 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,825,946 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $107,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 672.6% during the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 3,037,990 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $98,157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644,783 shares during the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXTA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Axalta Coating Systems from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $30.00 in a report on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 0.4%

AXTA stock opened at $35.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.32. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 52 week low of $24.94 and a 52 week high of $36.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.07. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 6.78% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Axalta Coating Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.550-2.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.700-0.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axalta Coating Systems Profile

Axalta Coating Systems is a global leader in the development, manufacture and sale of liquid and powder coatings. The company’s product portfolio spans refinish coatings for the automotive collision repair market, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) coatings for new vehicle production, and industrial coatings including electrodeposition (E-coat) and powder coatings for a variety of sectors such as architecture, heavy equipment and general industrial applications.

Tracing its roots to the 19th century and rebranded as Axalta following its separation from DuPont Performance Coatings in 2013, the company has built a presence in more than 100 countries.