Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,253 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,483 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in PPG Industries were worth $2,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $286,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in PPG Industries by 4.4% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,721,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.2% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,148 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,095,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 34,101 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,517,000 after buying an additional 2,382 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $145.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $162.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total transaction of $249,713.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,692,513.20. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of PPG opened at $122.53 on Monday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.07 and a 12-month high of $151.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.43 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.78.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.66 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 23.63%. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 43.11%.

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.