PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $130.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. PPG Industries traded as low as $104.40 and last traded at $105.02, with a volume of 280295 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $110.11.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Argus downgraded PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPG Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PPG. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in PPG Industries by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,666 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in PPG Industries by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 456 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in PPG Industries by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 7,750 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 431 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,288 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $990,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $23.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $114.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.85.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid 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 2.60%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

PPG Industries Company 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.