Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 494,482 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 48,177 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $54,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in PPG Industries in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in PPG Industries by 70.6% in the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in PPG Industries in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 74.6% in the first quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 351 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on PPG Industries from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $126.00 price target (down previously from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on PPG Industries from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on PPG Industries from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.82.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:PPG opened at $106.94 on Friday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.24 and a 12-month high of $137.24. The company has a market capitalization of $24.14 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $112.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22. The company had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.16 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.85% and a net margin of 6.25%. PPG Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.68%.

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.