DNB Asset Management AS Purchases 2,431 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 5.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 46,967 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,431 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $5,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 17.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,703,066 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,159,074,000 after acquiring an additional 4,222,402 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $554,685,000. Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,659,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $397,799,000 after acquiring an additional 81,200 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,839,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $270,876,000 after acquiring an additional 496,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,768,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $264,424,000 after acquiring an additional 417,145 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish acquired 2,061 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $133.24 per share, with a total value of $274,607.64. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,774,388.92. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPG traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $119.06. 2,536,375 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,665,736. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.96 and a 1 year high of $151.16. The company has a market cap of $27.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.63.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.02. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.57% and a net margin of 7.98%. The firm had revenue of $4.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This is a positive change from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $145.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $162.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.08.

PPG Industries 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.