Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,828 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,287 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in PPG Industries were worth $2,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,552,100,000 after acquiring an additional 491,774 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,189,095,000 after acquiring an additional 485,597 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,136,570 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $403,049,000 after acquiring an additional 170,339 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,571,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $340,654,000 after acquiring an additional 15,161 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,877,170 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $248,650,000 after acquiring an additional 36,047 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG traded down $0.17 during trading on Monday, reaching $117.75. 1,677,204 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,184,312. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.20 and a 12-month high of $145.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.42. The company has a market cap of $27.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.23.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.96 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on PPG. StockNews.com cut shares of PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp cut shares of PPG Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of PPG Industries from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $138.15.

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.