PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Price Target Cut to $165.00

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) had its price objective dropped by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $168.00 to $165.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target suggests a potential upside of 26.42% from the company’s previous close.

PPG has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.47.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG opened at $130.52 on Tuesday. PPG Industries has a 12-month low of $120.32 and a 12-month high of $152.89. The company has a market cap of $30.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company’s 50 day moving average is $139.81 and its 200 day moving average is $138.91.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.86. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that PPG Industries will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPG Industries

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 25.0% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,863 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its stake in PPG Industries by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,189 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 5.0% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.