Barclays Trims PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Target Price to $148.00

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $149.00 to $148.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on PPG. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a peer perform rating for the company. Evercore ISI cut shares of PPG Industries from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and set a $152.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of PPG Industries from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the company from $150.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $155.47.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPG opened at $130.52 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $30.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $139.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.91.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that PPG Industries will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPG Industries

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 588.5% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.