PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Sold by Verity & Verity LLC

Verity & Verity LLC reduced its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,205 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in PPG Industries by 28.9% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 337,726 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,516,000 after purchasing an additional 75,620 shares during the period. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in PPG Industries during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,452,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $604,000. Swedbank AB increased its stake in PPG Industries by 6.3% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 158,761 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $19,986,000 after purchasing an additional 9,412 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 199.7% during the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,267 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,647,000 after purchasing an additional 12,171 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $148.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. KeyCorp cut their price target on PPG Industries from $162.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total transaction of $249,713.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,692,513.20. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG opened at $123.42 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.72. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.07 and a 12-month high of $151.16. The firm has a market cap of $28.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by ($0.02). PPG Industries had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 23.63%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.11%.

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.