Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 25,767 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 377,705 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 25,767 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.16% of PPG Industries worth $45,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Down 1.0 %

PPG stock opened at $107.32 on Friday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $105.64 and a fifty-two week high of $145.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $115.37 and a 200-day moving average of $121.23. The company has a market capitalization of $24.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. 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 (NYSE:PPG) last posted 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 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

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