PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $158.00.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PPG shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, January 19th. Vertical Research raised shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG opened at $130.92 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $140.36 and its 200-day moving average is $138.88. The stock has a market cap of $30.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. PPG Industries has a twelve month low of $120.32 and a twelve month high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.86. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 6.96%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that PPG Industries will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPG Industries

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 11.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 358,333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $46,512,000 after buying an additional 35,571 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 137.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,224,000 after buying an additional 20,226 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 8,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 6.4% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,883 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 217,865 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,582,000 after purchasing an additional 65,073 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.