PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. KeyCorp cut shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $155.00 price target (down from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.29.

PPG Industries Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PPG stock opened at $120.21 on Friday. PPG Industries has a one year low of $118.07 and a one year high of $150.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $124.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.25. The stock has a market cap of $27.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. PPG Industries’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that PPG Industries will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,692,513.20. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in PPG Industries by 463.8% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $566,000. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 4.3% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 67,443 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,490,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the second quarter worth $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

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.