River Global Investors LLP Has $1.52 Million Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

River Global Investors LLP reduced its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,151 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 98 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 41.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,294,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $427,580,000 after buying an additional 959,849 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 4,484.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 723,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $108,228,000 after purchasing an additional 707,903 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $74,492,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 127.8% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 869,375 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $112,845,000 after purchasing an additional 487,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in PPG Industries during the third quarter worth about $60,006,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG Industries stock traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $132.92. 1,303,659 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,969,299. The stock has a market cap of $31.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $138.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.02. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.32 and a 12 month high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.92%.

Insider Activity

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PPG shares. StockNews.com raised PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI downgraded PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

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.