Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Short Interest Up 20.4% in February

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) saw a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,200,000 shares, an increase of 20.4% from the January 31st total of 4,320,000 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXTA. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup cut Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho cut their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.08.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXTA traded down $1.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.41. The stock had a trading volume of 409,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,924,836. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45. Axalta Coating Systems has a 12-month low of $30.41 and a 12-month high of $41.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axalta Coating Systems news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total transaction of $392,869.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,180.85. This represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AXTA. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,669,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $132,823,000 after acquiring an additional 31,894 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 68.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 36,191 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 14,704 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 434.3% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 39,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 32,135 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 5.8% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 445,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,135,000 after buying an additional 24,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sasco Capital Inc. CT grew its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 5.8% during the third quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT now owns 501,530 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,150,000 after buying an additional 27,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

About Axalta Coating Systems

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.