Prospector Partners LLC Increases Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Prospector Partners LLC increased its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 35.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 136,382 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 35,660 shares during the quarter. PPG Industries accounts for approximately 1.9% of Prospector Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Prospector Partners LLC owned 0.06% of PPG Industries worth $17,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,864 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $727,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 29,261 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 268,183 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 28,235 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 133.2% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 30,070 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,497,000 after purchasing an additional 17,175 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in PPG Industries by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 523,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $78,418,000 after buying an additional 46,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:PPG opened at $126.50 on Friday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $118.07 and a twelve month high of $151.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $29.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $125.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.80.

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

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This is a boost from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PPG. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $139.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup cut their price target on PPG Industries from $145.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on PPG Industries from $148.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.08.

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.