Financial Counselors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,169 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in PPG Industries by 138.9% during 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 buying an additional 1,858,895 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $107,850,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,508,210,000 after purchasing an additional 756,937 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,071,000. Finally, 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 valued at $1,552,100,000 after purchasing an additional 491,774 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a report 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 research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Nine 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG Industries stock opened at $107.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.23. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.64 and a 52 week high of $145.61.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. On average, research analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.51%.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.