Vicus Capital Takes $332,000 Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,864 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of PPG stock opened at $125.89 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $130.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.40. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $120.32 and a 1-year high of $152.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its board has approved a share 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish acquired 2,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $133.24 per share, with a total value of $274,607.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.