Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Acquires 243 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PPG. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $135.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.31.

PPG Industries Stock Down 5.7 %

PPG opened at $91.37 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.76. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $89.84 and a 1-year high of $142.30. The stock has a market cap of $20.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. As a group, research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

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.