Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 37,359 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 645,197 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 37,359 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.28% of PPG Industries worth $77,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 465.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in PPG Industries in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PPG. KeyCorp lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $155.00 price target (down previously from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.46.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG opened at $114.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.23. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $110.20 and a 52-week high of $145.60. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $120.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.82.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.96 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.