PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Cut to Hold at Argus

Argus cut shares of PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PPG. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE PPG opened at $111.00 on Monday. PPG Industries has a twelve month low of $109.15 and a twelve month high of $145.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $25.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.50.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 465.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.