PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Position Increased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 643,109 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,381 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $93,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in PPG Industries by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,480,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,661,083,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600,558 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $554,685,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,102,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $402,718,000 after purchasing an additional 341,977 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,659,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $397,799,000 after purchasing an additional 81,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup decreased 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.47.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG opened at $124.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $130.39 and its 200-day moving average is $137.90. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.32 and a 12-month high of $152.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.86. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.92%.

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

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish acquired 2,061 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $133.24 per share, for a total transaction of $274,607.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.