Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $1.13 Million Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,782 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 619 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,887 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $210,000. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $241,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,712 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.08.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:PPG traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $128.23. The company had a trading volume of 315,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,655,111. The company has a market capitalization of $29.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $128.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.47. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $151.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.93 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 23.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This is an increase from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

PPG Industries declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish purchased 2,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $133.24 per share, for a total transaction of $274,607.64. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

About PPG Industries

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.