PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Reaches New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $130.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. PPG Industries traded as low as $104.40 and last traded at $105.02, with a volume of 280295 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $110.11.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on PPG. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp lowered PPG Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $137.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. The trade was a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPG Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in PPG Industries by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,508,210,000 after purchasing an additional 756,937 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in PPG Industries by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,567,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,262,234,000 after buying an additional 1,590,041 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,546,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $660,752,000 after acquiring an additional 93,455 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,726,630 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $564,596,000 after acquiring an additional 271,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 482.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,337,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $518,132,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592,655 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPG Industries Stock Down 3.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's fifty day moving average is $113.20 and its 200-day moving average is $120.21.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share 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 research analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.