MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 2,075 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 3.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 60,669 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,075 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $8,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in PPG Industries by 28.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 337,726 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,516,000 after acquiring an additional 75,620 shares in the last quarter. BDF Gestion bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,452,000. Equity Investment Corp boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 7.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the third quarter worth $604,000. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 6.3% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 158,761 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $19,986,000 after purchasing an additional 9,412 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPG opened at $124.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $28.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.12. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.07 and a fifty-two week high of $151.16.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.15 by ($0.02). PPG Industries had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 23.63%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $155.00 price objective (down previously from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com cut PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPG Industries news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total value of $249,713.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,692,513.20. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.