NEOS Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,183 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,483 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PPG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,508,210,000 after acquiring an additional 756,937 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 4.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,552,100,000 after purchasing 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 in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,196,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $381,876,000 after buying an additional 1,858,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,136,570 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $403,049,000 after buying an additional 170,339 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on PPG. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Argus cut shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG opened at $107.32 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $24.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $105.64 and a 1-year high of $145.61.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 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.