Sei Investments Co. Purchases 27,942 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 7.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 386,607 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 27,942 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $13,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AXTA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,763,601 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $817,230,000 after acquiring an additional 554,806 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 5.6% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,403,246 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $355,479,000 after purchasing an additional 550,970 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 8.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,771,023 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $128,852,000 after buying an additional 302,752 shares during the period. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 63.8% during the 1st quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,198,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $109,989,000 after buying an additional 1,245,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,880,702 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $64,677,000 after buying an additional 208,827 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXTA opened at $37.25 on Friday. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1-year low of $25.03 and a 1-year high of $37.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 33.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.52.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 24.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.00.

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.