Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 58,579 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,997,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 11,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $505,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in PPG Industries by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,648,379 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $316,349,000 after purchasing an additional 76,626 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,077 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,637,000 after purchasing an additional 4,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 24,191 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,900,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus downgraded PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPG opened at $113.65 on Monday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $109.15 and a one year high of $145.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $116.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

PPG Industries 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.