PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Short Interest Update

PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,000,000 shares, a decrease of 20.6% from the September 30th total of 2,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,440,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG Industries stock traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $127.39. The company had a trading volume of 1,255,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,589,995. The company has a 50 day moving average of $127.96 and a 200-day moving average of $128.49. PPG Industries has a 52 week low of $118.07 and a 52 week high of $151.16. 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 firm has a market cap of $29.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.15 by ($0.02). PPG Industries had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 23.63%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PPG Industries will post 8.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in PPG Industries by 3.2% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 5,022 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 3.7% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 11,534 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,224 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 17,828 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,362,000 after buying an additional 2,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 20,048 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,656,000 after buying an additional 3,209 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PPG. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $148.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.93.

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.