National Bank of Canada FI Increases Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 141.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 288,611 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 168,937 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.12% of PPG Industries worth $34,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $470,535,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,196,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $381,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858,895 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,567,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,262,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590,041 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $107,850,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,508,210,000 after purchasing an additional 756,937 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG opened at $110.03 on Thursday. 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 50 day simple moving average is $114.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.85. The firm has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $105.64 and a 1 year high of $143.98.

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 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%. As a group, analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on 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. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.15.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.