Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 5,110 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 5,110 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC's holdings in PPG Industries were worth $7,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on PPG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded PPG Industries from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus lowered shares of PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of PPG Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $137.77.

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Insider Activity

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

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG stock traded down $6.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $104.02. The company had a trading volume of 2,229,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,744,995. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.93 and a 1 year high of $143.98. 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 company has a market capitalization of $23.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $114.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.85.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. PPG Industries's payout ratio is 57.51%.

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.