PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of PPG Industries from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their target price for the company from $150.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Bank of America lowered their price objective on PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Vertical Research raised PPG Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $155.50.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG Industries stock opened at $131.13 on Monday. PPG Industries has a fifty-two week low of $120.32 and a fifty-two week high of $152.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $30.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.13% and a net margin of 7.74%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that PPG Industries will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.92%.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPG Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PPG. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in PPG Industries by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.0% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. 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.