New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 12,766 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of PPG Industries worth $21,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PPG. State Street Corp lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 4.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,552,100,000 after acquiring an additional 491,774 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 5.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,189,095,000 after acquiring an additional 485,597 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 5.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,136,570 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $403,049,000 after acquiring an additional 170,339 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,571,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $340,654,000 after acquiring an additional 15,161 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 2.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,877,170 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $248,650,000 after acquiring an additional 36,047 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 target price (down from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG opened at $117.75 on Monday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $110.20 and a 52-week high of $145.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $27.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $119.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.44.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS 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, equities analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

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.