PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Price Target Lowered to $164.00 at Bank of America

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) had its price objective decreased by Bank of America from $167.00 to $164.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

PPG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Vertical Research upgraded PPG Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays cut PPG Industries from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their target price for the company from $163.00 to $149.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $155.47.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG stock opened at $130.52 on Monday. PPG Industries has a 52-week low of $120.32 and a 52-week high of $152.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted 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 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that PPG Industries will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 purchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.92%.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of PPG Industries 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 directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPG Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PPG. CWM LLC grew its stake in PPG Industries by 11.9% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $995,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in PPG Industries by 25.0% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,863 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its stake in PPG Industries by 30.7% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,189 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC grew its stake in PPG Industries by 4.5% in the third quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in PPG Industries by 5.0% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.