Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,258 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,747 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 11,004 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 358,333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,512,000 after buying an additional 35,571 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 137.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,224,000 after acquiring an additional 20,226 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in PPG Industries by 2.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 8,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in PPG Industries by 6.4% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,883 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $132.92 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.02. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $120.32 and a twelve month high of $152.89. The company has a market capitalization of $31.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.92%.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

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.