&Partners Acquires Shares of 3,847 PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

&Partners acquired a new stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $563,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 19,439 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,816,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,571 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 41,489 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,012,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish acquired 2,061 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $133.24 per share, for a total transaction of $274,607.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG stock opened at $128.59 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $131.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.02. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.32 and a 12-month high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.47.

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.