Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 324,688 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,831,301 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 324,688 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.22% of PPG Industries worth $338,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 109,888 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $13,126,000 after purchasing an additional 6,706 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,969,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $235,279,000 after buying an additional 119,168 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in PPG Industries by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,237 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 287,540 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $34,319,000 after buying an additional 21,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 168,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $20,176,000 after acquiring an additional 56,640 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Argus cut PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $126.00 target price (down from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $130.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 owns 35,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG stock traded down $1.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $102.65. 1,889,488 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,777,606. The company has a market cap of $23.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $90.24 and a one year high of $137.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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%. Equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. PPG Industries's payout ratio is 57.51%.

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.