Navellier & Associates Inc. Lowers Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Navellier & Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 46.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,578 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. State Street Corp raised its stake in PPG Industries by 4.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,552,100,000 after buying an additional 491,774 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in PPG Industries by 5.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,189,095,000 after buying an additional 485,597 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in PPG Industries by 68.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 873,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,757,000 after buying an additional 354,740 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in PPG Industries by 189.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 426,834 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $56,538,000 after buying an additional 279,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in PPG Industries by 65.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 523,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,474,000 after buying an additional 206,853 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

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 transaction of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG opened at $114.88 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $110.20 and a one year high of $145.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $118.29 and a 200 day moving average of $123.28.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.15.

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.