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

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) saw a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,400,000 shares, an increase of 9.2% from the September 30th total of 5,860,000 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,940,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of AXTA traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $37.93. The stock had a trading volume of 3,437,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,040,714. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.99. Axalta Coating Systems has a fifty-two week low of $25.92 and a fifty-two week high of $38.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.26.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 24.28% and a net margin of 5.69%. Axalta Coating Systems’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.30.

Institutional Trading of Axalta Coating Systems

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 554,806 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.9% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 15,009,959 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $512,890,000 after buying an additional 137,209 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 550,970 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 acquiring an additional 302,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $109,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,223 shares in the last quarter. 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.