Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Has $1.25 Million Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 14.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,913 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 28,345 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,239,000 after purchasing an additional 9,384 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,452,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 274,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,620,000 after acquiring an additional 22,079 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 17.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,703,066 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,159,074,000 after acquiring an additional 4,222,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $22,048,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $145.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $139.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.08.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE PPG traded up $0.89 on Friday, reaching $129.73. The stock had a trading volume of 2,175,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,348,386. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $30.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $125.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $132.32. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.07 and a 1-year high of $151.16.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.25 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This is a positive change from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 45.95%.

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.