Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $13.02 Million Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,085 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $13,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in PPG Industries by 588.5% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:PPG traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $131.37. 916,077 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,768,790. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.32 and a 52-week high of $152.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $140.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.13% and a net margin of 7.74%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.92%.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PPG. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, January 19th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.50.

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.