LMR Partners LLP Takes Position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,971 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,763,601 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $817,230,000 after buying an additional 554,806 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems during the first quarter worth approximately $12,556,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 3.0% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 896,188 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,623,000 after buying an additional 25,717 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 126.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 794,454 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,817,000 after buying an additional 443,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 8.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,771,023 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $128,852,000 after buying an additional 302,752 shares in the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXTA opened at $38.90 on Thursday. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $30.40 and a fifty-two week high of $40.91. The stock has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.76.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.08. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXTA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI started coverage on Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.45.

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.