Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Makes New $33,000 Investment in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 221 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,775 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 35,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,382,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $368,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 84.6% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 60,987 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,121,000 after purchasing an additional 27,949 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in PPG Industries by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 444 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG Industries stock opened at $130.90 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $140.36 and its 200 day moving average is $138.99. The company has a market capitalization of $30.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $120.32 and a twelve month 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.86. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.13% and a net margin of 7.74%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut shares of PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $163.00 to $149.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $158.00.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.