Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Reduces Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. reduced its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $5,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in PPG Industries by 2.0% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,864 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $727,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE PPG opened at $133.46 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $137.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.15. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.32 and a 12-month high of $152.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PPG shares. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI cut PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

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.