Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC Reduces Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lowered its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 958 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 4.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,552,100,000 after buying an additional 491,774 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,189,095,000 after purchasing an additional 485,597 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 5.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,136,570 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $403,049,000 after purchasing an additional 170,339 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,571,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $340,654,000 after purchasing an additional 15,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in PPG Industries by 20.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,197,012 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $276,576,000 after buying an additional 368,410 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE PPG traded down $2.31 on Friday, reaching $113.38. 942,568 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,987,893. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $113.35 and a one year high of $147.76. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.16. 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 results on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.66 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 8.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. Analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 43.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In related news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total value of $249,713.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PPG shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp downgraded PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.29.

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.