Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $868,000. Equity Investment Corp increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 649,301 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $86,006,000 after purchasing an additional 42,380 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $604,000. JGP Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,050,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,571,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $340,654,000 after purchasing an additional 15,161 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPG Industries Stock Down 0.9 %

PPG Industries stock opened at $114.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.23. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $120.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.84. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.20 and a 1-year high of $145.60.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PPG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. KeyCorp cut shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $144.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.46.

PPG Industries 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.