Foster & Motley Inc. Acquires New Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,673 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 41.1% during the third 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 4,484.1% during the fourth 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $74,492,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 127.8% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 869,375 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $112,845,000 after buying an additional 487,677 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the third quarter valued at about $60,006,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG Industries stock opened at $129.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $30.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $139.54 and a 200 day moving average of $138.85. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.92%.

PPG Industries declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Bank of America cut their target price on PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp cut their target price on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Vertical Research raised PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on PPG Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.