PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Downgraded to In-Line at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI lowered shares of PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) from an outperform rating to an in-line rating in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $152.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on PPG. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays downgraded PPG Industries from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lowered their price target for the company from $163.00 to $149.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Wolfe Research began coverage on PPG Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded PPG Industries from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded PPG Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $155.50.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPG opened at $131.13 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.99. PPG Industries has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $30.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28.

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

PPG Industries announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPG Industries

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 588.5% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About PPG Industries

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.