Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Increases Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,247 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,819 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $6,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 465.1% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PPG. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Argus cut PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Down 1.3 %

PPG stock opened at $111.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $115.96 and a 200-day moving average of $121.52. 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 one year low of $109.15 and a one year high of $145.61.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is 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.