Seven Eight Capital LP Raises Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Seven Eight Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 121.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,252 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,471 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $2,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 13,266 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,922,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,864 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $727,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $148.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their target price on PPG Industries from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Seaport Res Ptn raised PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI cut PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $140.00 to $139.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.38.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish purchased 2,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG stock traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $126.72. The stock had a trading volume of 1,624,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,666,458. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $120.32 and a one year high of $151.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $129.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its 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. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.50% and a net margin of 7.98%. The firm had revenue of $4.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.23 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is a boost from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.92%.

PPG Industries declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Company 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.