Ethic Inc. Sells 7,450 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Ethic Inc. trimmed its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,672 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 7,450 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $4,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PPG shares. Fermium Researc raised shares of PPG Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $135.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seaport Res Ptn cut PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on PPG Industries from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.83.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.7 %

PPG Industries stock opened at $109.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $106.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.59. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $90.24 and a one year high of $137.24.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.10. PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. PPG Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% 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.