Empirical Finance LLC Increases Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,148 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PPG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,703,066 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,159,074,000 after acquiring an additional 4,222,402 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 20.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,197,012 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $276,576,000 after purchasing an additional 368,410 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 4.9% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,713,126 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $248,172,000 after purchasing an additional 80,710 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in PPG Industries by 12.2% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,404,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $176,751,000 after buying an additional 152,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,142,195 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $162,862,000 after buying an additional 100,391 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $145.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $148.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPG Industries news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG Industries stock opened at $122.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $127.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.07 and a 1 year high of $151.16.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.11%.

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.