PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Price Target Lowered to $141.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) had its price target reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $156.00 to $141.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on PPG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic cut PPG Industries from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI cut PPG Industries from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and set a $152.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday. One equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $155.50.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:PPG opened at $131.13 on Monday. PPG Industries has a 52-week low of $120.32 and a 52-week high of $152.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.99.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 23.13%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Analysts expect that PPG Industries will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.92%.

PPG Industries declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company’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 directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPG Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in PPG Industries by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,480,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,661,083,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600,558 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $554,685,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,294,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $427,580,000 after buying an additional 959,849 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,102,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $402,718,000 after acquiring an additional 341,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC lifted its position in PPG Industries by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,659,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $397,799,000 after acquiring an additional 81,200 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About PPG Industries

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.