Xponance Inc. Increases Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Xponance Inc. raised its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 35,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $5,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 358,333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,512,000 after buying an additional 35,571 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in PPG Industries by 137.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,224,000 after acquiring an additional 20,226 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 8,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 6.4% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,883 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 217,865 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,582,000 after purchasing an additional 65,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PPG shares. Vertical Research raised shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, Barclays cut shares of PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $163.00 to $149.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $158.00.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG Industries stock opened at $130.90 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $140.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.95. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.32 and a 12-month high of $152.89. The stock has a market cap of $30.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted 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 business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 23.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate 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.