PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $155.47.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PPG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish purchased 2,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $133.24 per share, for a total transaction of $274,607.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,774,388.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction on 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 owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,192.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PPG. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in PPG Industries by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased 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. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,204,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPG Industries Stock Up 1.2 %

PPG opened at $134.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. PPG Industries has a 12 month low of $120.32 and a 12 month high of $152.89. The company has a market cap of $31.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $137.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.11.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that PPG Industries will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

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

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.92%.

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.