PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Price Target Cut to $165.00 by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) had its price objective decreased by BMO Capital Markets from $168.00 to $165.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on PPG. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of PPG Industries from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a peer perform rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $155.50.

PPG Industries Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE PPG opened at $130.40 on Tuesday. PPG Industries has a one year low of $120.32 and a one year high of $152.89. The company has a market capitalization of $30.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.97.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 23.13%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPG Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,480,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,661,083,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600,558 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth $554,685,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,294,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $427,580,000 after acquiring an additional 959,849 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,102,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $402,718,000 after acquiring an additional 341,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,659,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $397,799,000 after buying an additional 81,200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

About PPG Industries

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.