Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $3.45 Million Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 31.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,039 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,458 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $3,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in PPG Industries by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,712 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPG opened at $132.92 on Monday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.32 and a fifty-two week high of $152.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $138.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were 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 directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,192.66. 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PPG. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

PPG Industries 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.