PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Stock Position Reduced by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 299,476 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 213,824 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $37,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in PPG Industries by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 28,345 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,239,000 after purchasing an additional 9,384 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 28.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 337,726 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,516,000 after purchasing an additional 75,620 shares during the period. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the second quarter valued at about $3,452,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 274,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,620,000 after acquiring an additional 22,079 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $4,159,074,000 after purchasing an additional 4,222,402 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG stock opened at $127.46 on Thursday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.07 and a 1 year high of $151.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $125.80 and its 200-day moving average is $130.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.93 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.57% and a net margin of 7.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This is a boost from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on PPG Industries from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on PPG Industries from $140.00 to $139.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.08.

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.