Equity Investment Corp Raises Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Equity Investment Corp lifted its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 649,301 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 42,380 shares during the quarter. PPG Industries makes up about 2.0% of Equity Investment Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Equity Investment Corp owned 0.28% of PPG Industries worth $86,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PPG. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in PPG Industries in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in PPG Industries in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $162.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $148.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total value of $249,713.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,454 shares in the company, valued at $1,692,513.20. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG stock opened at $122.53 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $127.37 and a 200 day moving average of $127.78. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.07 and a 1 year high of $151.16.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.66 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 8.24%. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.11%.

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.