Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 24.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,048 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 2,982 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PPG. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in PPG Industries by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,864 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $727,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 29,261 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 133.2% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 30,070 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,497,000 after buying an additional 17,175 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 523,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $78,418,000 after buying an additional 46,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA purchased a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPG Industries Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of PPG Industries stock opened at $126.50 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $125.71 and a 200 day moving average of $130.73. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $29.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.37, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.07 and a fifty-two week high of $151.16.

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

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is an increase from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 45.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PPG. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $140.00 to $139.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $148.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $145.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.08.

PPG Industries 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.