Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 1,626 PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,626 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Colony Group LLC grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 12,009 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $135.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $31.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.90. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.32 and a fifty-two week high of $152.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.96% and a return on equity of 23.51%. PPG Industries’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Equities analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 48.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PPG. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Vertical Research raised shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, January 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.40.

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.