PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Bought by Prospector Partners LLC

Prospector Partners LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 144,967 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the quarter. PPG Industries accounts for approximately 1.9% of Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $17,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PPG Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.77.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG Industries stock opened at $98.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.49. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $97.49 and a 12 month high of $142.30.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. As a group, analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. The trade was a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% 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.