Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 221 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,032 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 221 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 465.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG opened at $114.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $118.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.23. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.20 and a 1 year high of $145.60.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PPG. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $145.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp cut shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Company 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.