J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Has $1.65 Million Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,004 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 51.9% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,991 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,048 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 14.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,099,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in PPG Industries in the first quarter valued at $619,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,180,199 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,645,019,000 after acquiring an additional 252,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 7.1% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 19,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on PPG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, January 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $158.00.

PPG Industries Price Performance

NYSE:PPG opened at $130.90 on Friday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89. The firm has a market cap of $30.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.47.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS 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 23.13%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. PPG Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 43.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.