Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 82,634 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,892,000.

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

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $98.98 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $97.49 and a 52-week high of $142.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $113.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.44.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) 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 fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PPG. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus lowered PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp downgraded PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.77.

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.