Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 137.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 20,226 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $5,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,997 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 281,835 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,148,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $277,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,956 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPG Industries Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE PPG opened at $133.52 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.93. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $31.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.28.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.96% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The business’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PPG shares. Barclays downgraded shares of PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $163.00 to $149.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down from $173.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Vertical Research raised shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.40.

PPG Industries Company Profile

PPG Industries, Inc manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Industrial Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; wood stains; paints, thermoplastics, pavement marking products, and other advanced technologies for pavement marking for government, commercial infrastructure, painting, and maintenance contractors; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft.