Savant Capital LLC Decreases Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Savant Capital LLC lowered its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,279 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 5,366 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 2.0% during the third 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. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,712 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PPG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered shares of PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPG Industries has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG stock opened at $132.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $138.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.87. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.32 and a 12 month high of $152.89. The company has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.30.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its 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 22.98%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.