Federated Hermes Inc. Buys 27,949 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 84.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,987 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,949 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $9,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 11.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 358,333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,512,000 after purchasing an additional 35,571 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 20,226 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in PPG Industries by 2.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 8,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its position in PPG Industries by 6.4% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,883 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its position in PPG Industries by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 217,865 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,582,000 after acquiring an additional 65,073 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG stock opened at $130.52 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $139.81 and a 200 day moving average of $138.91. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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 given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Vertical Research upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on PPG Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.47.

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.