PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $117.86 and last traded at $118.05, with a volume of 286921 shares. The stock had previously closed at $119.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on PPG shares. Mizuho reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $155.00 target price (down from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.29.

PPG Industries Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, 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 (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.11%.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total transaction of $249,713.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPG Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in PPG Industries by 465.1% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

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.