StockNews.com Upgrades PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) to “Buy”

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PPG Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

PPG Industries Stock Up 0.4 %

PPG Industries stock opened at $130.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $30.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries has a fifty-two week low of $120.32 and a fifty-two week high of $152.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.97.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. Research analysts predict that PPG Industries will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PPG Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the third quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 588.5% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.