PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Price Target Cut to $162.00

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at KeyCorp from $164.00 to $162.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. KeyCorp’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 24.23% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.50.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG opened at $130.40 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $140.00 and its 200-day moving average is $138.97. PPG Industries has a fifty-two week low of $120.32 and a fifty-two week high of $152.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 23.13%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPG Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PPG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $554,685,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,480,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,661,083,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600,558 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,294,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $427,580,000 after buying an additional 959,849 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 4,484.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 723,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $108,228,000 after buying an additional 707,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,492,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPG Industries Company 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.