PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Sold by Burney Co.

Burney Co. trimmed its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,754 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 490 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 17.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,703,066 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,159,074,000 after purchasing an additional 4,222,402 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $554,685,000. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,659,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $397,799,000 after acquiring an additional 81,200 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,839,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $270,876,000 after acquiring an additional 496,998 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,768,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $264,424,000 after acquiring an additional 417,145 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PPG. Wells Fargo & Company raised PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp cut their price target on PPG Industries from $162.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on PPG Industries from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup cut their price target on PPG Industries from $145.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on PPG Industries from $140.00 to $139.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.08.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG Industries stock traded down $2.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $123.46. 1,250,185 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,674,963. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.32 and a fifty-two week high of $151.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $128.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.02. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.57% and a net margin of 7.98%. The business had revenue of $4.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. This is a positive change from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish bought 2,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $133.24 per share, for a total transaction of $274,607.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.