Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 364,925 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 56.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 278,904 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 364,925 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $36,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PPG. Insight Folios Inc increased its position in PPG Industries by 3.8% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,217 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in PPG Industries by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 20,244 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,549,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.6% during the second quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 3,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its position in PPG Industries by 1.7% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 5,310 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 1.1% in the third quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 8,344 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho cut their price target on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.29.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE PPG opened at $120.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.07 and a 52-week high of $150.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $124.99 and a 200-day moving average of $126.16.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.66 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 8.24%. PPG Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is presently 43.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total transaction of $249,713.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,692,513.20. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.