Smith Salley Wealth Management Buys 629 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 31.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,637 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 588.5% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered shares of PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.80.

PPG Industries Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of PPG traded down $1.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $125.25. 1,071,254 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,649,497. 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 $130.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.35. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89. The company has a market cap of $29.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.92%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish acquired 2,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $133.24 per share, for a total transaction of $274,607.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.56% 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.