Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Has $1.46 Million Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 188.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,074 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,584 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 11,004 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 11.0% during the 3rd 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. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 28,345 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,239,000 after purchasing an additional 9,384 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 137.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,224,000 after purchasing an additional 20,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 8,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on PPG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on PPG Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish acquired 2,061 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $133.24 per share, for a total transaction of $274,607.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PPG Industries Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of PPG opened at $124.90 on Friday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.32 and a 52-week high of $152.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $131.06 and its 200-day moving average is $138.68. 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 firm has a market cap of $29.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.28.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.