Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Shares Bought by UMB Bank n.a.

UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 31.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,744 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $91,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXTA. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 356,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,183,000 after buying an additional 130,427 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,378 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,432,826 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,031,000 after buying an additional 9,572 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $6,160,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $350,000. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 0.3%

Axalta Coating Systems stock opened at $30.19 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.27. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a twelve month low of $27.70 and a twelve month high of $41.66.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.05. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. Axalta Coating Systems’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho set a $37.00 price objective on Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.38.

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.