Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $7 Million in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 58,579 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,997,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 41.9% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 5,309 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $703,000 after buying an additional 1,568 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the third quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the third quarter worth $326,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in PPG Industries by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 34,101 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,382 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG Industries stock opened at $113.65 on Monday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.15 and a 1 year high of $145.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $116.36 and its 200 day moving average is $122.26. The stock has a market cap of $25.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

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%. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 57.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PPG shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.