American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 171.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 604,758 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 382,366 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of PPG Industries worth $72,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in PPG Industries by 465.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Remove Ads

PPG Industries Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of PPG traded down $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $107.32. The company had a trading volume of 3,315,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,723,169. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $105.64 and a 52-week high of $145.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $115.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors 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 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of PPG Industries from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.15.

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.