PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE reduced its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,359 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 6,011 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $31,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,480,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,661,083,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600,558 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $554,685,000. Putnam Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,659,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $397,799,000 after acquiring an additional 81,200 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,839,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $270,876,000 after acquiring an additional 496,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,768,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $264,424,000 after acquiring an additional 417,145 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $133.94. The company had a trading volume of 529,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,629,152. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $129.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.50. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.32 and a fifty-two week high of $152.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. Analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PPG. UBS Group reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish acquired 2,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $133.24 per share, for a total transaction of $274,607.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.