PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Receives $155.47 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $155.47.

PPG has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG stock opened at $123.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.33. PPG Industries has a 12-month low of $120.32 and a 12-month high of $152.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its 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 net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that PPG Industries will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.92%.

PPG Industries declared that its board has initiated 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish purchased 2,061 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $133.24 per share, with a total value of $274,607.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,774,388.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in PPG Industries by 17.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,703,066 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,159,074,000 after buying an additional 4,222,402 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $554,685,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 4,484.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 723,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $108,228,000 after purchasing an additional 707,903 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,492,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in PPG Industries by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,839,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $270,876,000 after purchasing an additional 496,998 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

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.