PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Lowered to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

PPG has been the topic of several other research reports. KeyCorp lowered PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective (down previously from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.29.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG opened at $120.21 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $124.99 and a 200-day moving average of $126.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. PPG Industries has a twelve month low of $118.07 and a twelve month high of $150.82.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.15 by ($0.02). PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 8.24%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PPG Industries will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.11%.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In related news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total transaction of $249,713.00. Following the sale, the vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PPG Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Insight Folios Inc boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,217 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 20,244 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 3,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 5,310 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 1.1% in the third quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 8,344 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.