PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Board of Directors Authorizes Stock Buyback Program

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 18th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.2 %

PPG opened at $131.13 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. PPG Industries has a 12 month low of $120.32 and a 12 month high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.13% and a net margin of 7.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Barclays reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, January 19th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on PPG Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.