FourThought Financial Partners LLC Takes Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG Industries stock opened at $114.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $117.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.21. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.20 and a 52 week high of $145.60.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

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.