WBI Investments LLC Acquires New Shares in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

WBI Investments LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 1,822 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PPG. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in PPG Industries by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,864 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPG Industries Price Performance

NYSE PPG traded up $2.65 during trading on Thursday, reaching $129.29. 682,904 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,638,370. 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 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $129.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.11. The company has a market cap of $30.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered 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, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.80.

Insider Activity

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish acquired 2,061 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $133.24 per share, with a total value of $274,607.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,774,388.92. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.