UBS Group AG Boosts Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

UBS Group AG raised its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 23.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 612,946 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 117,682 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned 0.26% of PPG Industries worth $91,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 11,004 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 11.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 358,333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,512,000 after acquiring an additional 35,571 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in PPG Industries by 137.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,224,000 after buying an additional 20,226 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in PPG Industries by 2.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 8,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,048,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE PPG opened at $134.70 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $136.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.92. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $120.32 and a one year high of $152.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $31.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PPG shares. KeyCorp dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PPG Industries has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy M. Knavish purchased 2,061 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $133.24 per share, with a total value of $274,607.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPG Industries 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.