PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 price target (down from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, October 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.93.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $124.43 on Wednesday. PPG Industries has a 1-year low of $118.07 and a 1-year high of $151.16. The business has a 50-day moving average of $126.65 and a 200-day moving average of $127.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $28.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued 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 return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 8.24%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PPG Industries will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 43.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total value of $249,713.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,454 shares in the company, valued at $1,692,513.20. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPG Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 4.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,552,100,000 after buying an additional 491,774 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 5.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,189,095,000 after buying an additional 485,597 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 20.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,197,012 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $276,576,000 after buying an additional 368,410 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 68.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 873,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,757,000 after buying an additional 354,740 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 189.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 426,834 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,538,000 after buying an additional 279,455 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.