Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Stock Price

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) had its price objective reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $130.00 to $115.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $135.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.15.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG stock traded down $7.06 on Wednesday, reaching $96.05. The stock had a trading volume of 865,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,326,258. 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 has a 1 year low of $90.24 and a 1 year high of $139.01. The stock has a market cap of $21.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.48.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts expect that PPG Industries will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PPG Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PPG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $470,535,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 482.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,337,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $518,132,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592,655 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in PPG Industries by 815.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,031,164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $362,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700,018 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,196,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $381,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,895 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,567,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,262,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590,041 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.