Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Buys 9,445 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,268 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,445 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $11,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PPG. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the first quarter worth about $29,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in PPG Industries in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on PPG Industries from $145.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. KeyCorp cut their target price on PPG Industries from $162.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $139.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.08.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE PPG opened at $127.30 on Tuesday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.07 and a 52-week high of $151.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $125.64 and a 200-day moving average of $130.64. The company has a market capitalization of $29.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.49.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.93 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.57% and a net margin of 7.98%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This is a boost from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.95%.

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.