PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PPG. Citigroup cut their price target on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target 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, April 22nd. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Vertical Research raised shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

PPG Industries Price Performance

NYSE PPG opened at $130.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $30.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.97. PPG Industries has a 52-week low of $120.32 and a 52-week high of $152.89.

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 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 22.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that PPG Industries will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPG Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPG. Wedmont Private Capital grew 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 valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $526,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in PPG Industries by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

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.