PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Approves Share Buyback Plan

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, April 18th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $131.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $30.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $140.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.99. PPG Industries has a one year low of $120.32 and a one year high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.13% and a net margin of 7.74%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.56% 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.