Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 494 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PPG. Norges Bank bought a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $470,535,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,196,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $381,876,000 after buying an additional 1,858,895 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth $107,850,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,508,210,000 after buying an additional 756,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,071,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPG Industries Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:PPG opened at $107.32 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.23. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $105.64 and a 12-month high of $145.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. On average, research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PPG. Seaport Res Ptn lowered PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp cut shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.15.

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.