Verity & Verity LLC Decreases Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Verity & Verity LLC lowered its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,514 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 869 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PPG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $470,535,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 482.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,337,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $518,132,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592,655 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 815.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,031,164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $362,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700,018 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,196,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $381,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,895 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,567,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,262,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590,041 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PPG. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on PPG Industries from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup cut their target price on PPG Industries from $135.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus lowered PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 price objective (down from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on PPG Industries from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.42.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG opened at $112.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $90.24 and a one year high of $137.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $107.39 and its 200-day moving average is $113.62.

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

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.24%.

PPG Industries 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.