Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Acquires 7,309 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 82.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 7,309 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PPG. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho cut their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $130.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPG Industries Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of PPG opened at $101.77 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $108.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.57. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $90.24 and a one year high of $137.24. The company has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.52, 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. PPG Industries's payout ratio is 57.51%.

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.

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