StockNews.com Upgrades PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) to Buy

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

PPG has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Barclays reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.47.

PPG Industries Trading Up 1.5 %

PPG Industries stock opened at $130.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $138.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.91. The company has a market capitalization of $30.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced 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 business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PPG Industries will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of PPG Industries 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPG Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in PPG Industries by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.