PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Argus

Argus downgraded shares of PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on 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 dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG opened at $114.71 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $116.74 and a 200-day moving average of $122.68. The company has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. PPG Industries has a one year low of $109.15 and a one year high of $145.61.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 predict that PPG Industries will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PPG Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. PUREfi Wealth LLC purchased a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $279,000. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $868,000. Equity Investment Corp raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 649,301 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $86,006,000 after purchasing an additional 42,380 shares during the period. JGP Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $4,050,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,571,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $340,654,000 after purchasing an additional 15,161 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

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.