PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Raised to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

PPG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 target price (down previously from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.93.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG stock opened at $124.17 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.24. PPG Industries has a 52-week low of $118.07 and a 52-week high of $151.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.53. 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 (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.15 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.66 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 8.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. Research analysts expect that PPG Industries will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total transaction of $249,713.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,692,513.20. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PPG Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PPG. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,552,100,000 after purchasing an additional 491,774 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 5.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,189,095,000 after buying an additional 485,597 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in PPG Industries by 20.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,197,012 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $276,576,000 after buying an additional 368,410 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in PPG Industries by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 873,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,757,000 after acquiring an additional 354,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 189.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 426,834 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $56,538,000 after acquiring an additional 279,455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.86% 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.