PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Price Target Lowered to $139.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) had its price target cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $140.00 to $139.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

PPG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $148.00 to $144.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $162.00 to $153.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on PPG Industries from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded PPG Industries from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $151.38.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG Industries stock traded down $1.26 on Tuesday, hitting $125.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 643,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,659,203. PPG Industries has a 52-week low of $120.32 and a 52-week high of $151.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $129.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.90. The company has a market capitalization of $29.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.02. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 23.57%. The business had revenue of $4.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that PPG Industries will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a $0.68 dividend. This is a positive change from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.92%.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish bought 2,061 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $133.24 per share, with a total value of $274,607.64. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPG Industries

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,703,066 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,159,074,000 after purchasing an additional 4,222,402 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $554,685,000. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,659,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $397,799,000 after purchasing an additional 81,200 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,839,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $270,876,000 after purchasing an additional 496,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in PPG Industries by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,768,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $264,424,000 after buying an additional 417,145 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.