15,000 Shares in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Acquired by Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,792,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PPG Industries Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $113.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $106.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.41. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.24 and a 1 year high of $137.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

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

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PPG shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $135.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 target price (down previously from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Fermium Researc raised shares of PPG Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Nine investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.42.

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.