Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) was the target of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,360,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the June 15th total of 5,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axalta Coating Systems

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXTA. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 47.7% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,046 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 12,022.2% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 111.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,417 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $71,000. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

NYSE:AXTA traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.17. The stock had a trading volume of 105,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,034,462. Axalta Coating Systems has a twelve month low of $25.03 and a twelve month high of $36.98. The stock has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.68, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.08. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 4.77% and a return on equity of 21.82%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. Axalta Coating Systems’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXTA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.50.

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.