Dean Investment Associates LLC Trims Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Dean Investment Associates LLC lessened its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,965 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,935 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $2,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,508,210,000 after acquiring an additional 756,937 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,567,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,262,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590,041 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,546,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $660,752,000 after purchasing an additional 93,455 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in PPG Industries by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,726,630 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $564,596,000 after purchasing an additional 271,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $470,535,000. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG stock opened at $100.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.24 and a fifty-two week high of $137.24. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $109.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.25.

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

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $135.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.31.

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.