PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Position Trimmed by New England Research & Management Inc.

New England Research & Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,350 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PPG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $554,685,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in PPG Industries by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,480,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,661,083,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600,558 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in PPG Industries by 4,484.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 723,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $108,228,000 after acquiring an additional 707,903 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $74,492,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,839,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $270,876,000 after buying an additional 496,998 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish acquired 2,061 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.47.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $125.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $130.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.45. The company has a market cap of $29.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.28. 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 quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.92%.

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.