PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Price Target Lowered to $148.00 at Barclays

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) had its price objective decreased by Barclays from $149.00 to $148.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Vertical Research upgraded PPG Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. KeyCorp cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Redburn Atlantic cut PPG Industries from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut 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 note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $155.50.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:PPG opened at $131.13 on Monday. 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. PPG Industries has a 1 year low of $120.32 and a 1 year high of $152.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $140.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $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.

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

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.92%.

PPG Industries declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PPG Industries

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,863 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 30.7% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,189 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC grew its stake in PPG Industries by 4.5% in the third quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 5.0% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

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.