Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $2.14 Million Investment in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 14,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,139,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 253,625 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,930,000 after buying an additional 2,775 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 137.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,224,000 after buying an additional 20,226 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPG. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down from $173.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, January 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.40.

PPG Industries Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE PPG opened at $134.96 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.76 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average of $140.60 and a 200 day moving average of $138.90. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.32 and a 1 year high of $152.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.96% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.55% 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.