Sentry Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 963 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPG. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PPG opened at $115.07 on Thursday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.20 and a 52 week high of $145.60. 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 company has a market capitalization of $26.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $117.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.15.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results 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, sell-side analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.