Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 14,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,139,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PPG. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 51.9% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,991 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $797,000 after buying an additional 2,048 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,099,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the 1st quarter worth $619,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,180,199 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,645,019,000 after purchasing an additional 252,358 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 19,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPG Industries Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $134.96 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $140.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down previously from $173.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.40.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries 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.