PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Short Interest Down 20.6% in October

PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,000,000 shares, a drop of 20.6% from the September 30th total of 2,520,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,440,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

PPG Industries Trading Down 0.6 %

PPG Industries stock traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $126.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 853,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,591,610. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $127.87 and a 200-day moving average of $128.63. PPG Industries has a one year low of $118.07 and a one year high of $151.16. The stock has a market cap of $29.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.66 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 8.24%. The business's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries will post 8.19 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Institutional Trading of PPG Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in PPG Industries by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,703,066 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $4,159,074,000 after buying an additional 4,222,402 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 20.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,197,012 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $276,576,000 after buying an additional 368,410 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,713,126 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $248,172,000 after acquiring an additional 80,710 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in PPG Industries by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,404,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $176,751,000 after acquiring an additional 152,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in PPG Industries by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,142,195 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $162,862,000 after purchasing an additional 100,391 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $162.00 to $153.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $155.00 target price (down from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $148.00 to $144.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $149.93.

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.