PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,382 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 7,492 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $15,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC increased its stake in PPG Industries by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 1,862 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 22,478 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,362,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 47.7% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 124,509 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,620,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 252,039 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,692,000 after buying an additional 52,635 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG stock opened at $130.40 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $30.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.32 and a 12 month high of $152.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $140.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.97.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI cut shares of PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 SEC, which is available through this link. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.