StockNews.com Downgrades PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

PPG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $155.00 price objective (down previously from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $149.93.

PPG Industries Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PPG Industries stock traded up $0.71 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $124.06. The company had a trading volume of 153,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,573,518. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $118.07 and a fifty-two week high of $151.16. The firm's fifty day moving average is $126.88 and its 200-day moving average is $127.25. The company has a market cap of $28.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.66 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 23.63%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that PPG Industries will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total value of $249,713.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,454 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,692,513.20. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of PPG Industries

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 5.7% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 485,597 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 purchasing an additional 368,410 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 873,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $115,757,000 after purchasing an additional 354,740 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in PPG Industries by 189.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 426,834 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $56,538,000 after purchasing an additional 279,455 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.