American International Group Inc. Lowers Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

American International Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 63,474 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 502 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $9,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.47.

PPG Industries Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of PPG Industries stock opened at $127.86 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $29.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.32 and a fifty-two week high of $152.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $132.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.33.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The firm 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%. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish acquired 2,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $133.24 per share, with a total value of $274,607.64. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.