Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 649 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 52.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 581 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 649 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $73,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PPG. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $145.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Barclays cut their target price on PPG Industries from $148.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $162.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.08.

PPG Industries Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE PPG opened at $126.98 on Friday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $118.07 and a one year high of $151.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.49. The company has a market capitalization of $29.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.30.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.93 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 23.57%. PPG Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This is a positive change from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 45.95%.

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.