PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Stock Holdings Lifted by West Tower Group LLC

West Tower Group LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 61.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the quarter. West Tower Group LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $406,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. PUREfi Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $279,000. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $868,000. JGP Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $4,050,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in PPG Industries by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,571,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $340,654,000 after purchasing an additional 15,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,944,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on PPG shares. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Argus downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG Industries stock opened at $113.51 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.04. The company has a market cap of $25.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $109.15 and a fifty-two week high of $145.61.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released 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 return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.51%.

PPG Industries 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.