Wells Fargo & Company Cuts PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Price Target to $130.00

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

PPG has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group dropped their target price on 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 cut PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.77.

PPG Industries Price Performance

NYSE PPG opened at $98.98 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. PPG Industries 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 50 day moving average price is $113.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.49.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced 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 net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. Sell-side analysts forecast that PPG Industries will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PPG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $470,535,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 482.2% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,337,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $518,132,000 after buying an additional 3,592,655 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 815.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,031,164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $362,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700,018 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,196,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $381,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,895 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,567,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,262,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590,041 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is 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.