Bell Asset Management Ltd Makes New $6.96 Million Investment in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Bell Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 58,229 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,955,000. PPG Industries accounts for about 1.3% of Bell Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,508,210,000 after purchasing an additional 756,937 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 17.7% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,590,041 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,546,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $660,752,000 after acquiring an additional 93,455 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $470,535,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in PPG Industries by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,356,722 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $400,960,000 after acquiring an additional 220,152 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on PPG shares. 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 report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of 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 lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.77.

PPG Industries Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $98.98 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $113.74 and its 200 day moving average is $120.44. PPG Industries, Inc. 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.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 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, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. The trade was a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.