PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Given New $165.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) had its target price reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $168.00 to $165.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com lowered PPG Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday. Redburn Atlantic lowered PPG Industries from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $160.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Vertical Research raised PPG Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $155.47.

PPG Industries Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of PPG stock opened at $129.23 on Tuesday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $139.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.85. PPG Industries has a 12-month low of $120.32 and a 12-month high of $152.89. The firm has a market cap of $30.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that PPG Industries will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 buy up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PPG Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $554,685,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in PPG Industries by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,480,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,661,083,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600,558 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in PPG Industries by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,294,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $427,580,000 after acquiring an additional 959,849 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in PPG Industries by 4,484.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 723,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $108,228,000 after acquiring an additional 707,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,492,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

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.