National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 141.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 288,611 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 168,937 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.12% of PPG Industries worth $34,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,508,210,000 after purchasing an additional 756,937 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in PPG Industries by 4.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in PPG Industries by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,567,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,262,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590,041 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $470,535,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in PPG Industries by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,356,722 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $400,960,000 after buying an additional 220,152 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG stock traded down $2.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $97.02. The stock had a trading volume of 1,149,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,237,072. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $95.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.30. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $113.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.44. The firm has a market cap of $22.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.38, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

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 (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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. PPG Industries's payout ratio is 57.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PPG. UBS Group lowered their price objective on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Argus downgraded PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of PPG Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $137.77.

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.