Empowered Funds LLC Has $2.72 Million Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 4.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $2,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 25.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 582 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 62.6% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 15,410 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,930 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 347.2% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 9,665 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 7,504 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 13.7% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 119,924 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,229,000 after purchasing an additional 14,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 16.3% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,623 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG stock opened at $121.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $127.22 and its 200-day moving average is $127.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.26. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.07 and a 1 year high of $151.16.

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

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PPG. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $155.00 target price (down previously from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPG Industries has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,692,513.20. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.