Royal Bank of Canada Cuts PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Price Target to $141.00

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) had its price objective lowered by Royal Bank of Canada from $156.00 to $141.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on PPG. Citigroup cut their price target on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Redburn Atlantic cut PPG Industries from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $160.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird restated an outperform rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut PPG Industries from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and set a $152.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $155.47.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:PPG opened at $130.52 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.55. PPG Industries has a fifty-two week low of $120.32 and a fifty-two week high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPG Industries

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPG. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in PPG Industries by 588.5% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.