Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 37.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,839,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 496,998 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.78% of PPG Industries worth $270,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 11,004 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 11.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 358,333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,512,000 after acquiring an additional 35,571 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 137.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,224,000 after acquiring an additional 20,226 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 2.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 8,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,048,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG opened at $133.46 on Thursday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.32 and a 12-month high of $152.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.15. The company has a market cap of $31.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given 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 1.95%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the topic of several research reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. 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 note on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.47.

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.