PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 18.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 122,759 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,189 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.05% of PPG Industries worth $15,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,048,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth $2,139,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in PPG Industries by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 146,714 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $21,941,000 after purchasing an additional 17,326 shares during the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $383,000. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.3 %

PPG traded up $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $122.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,562,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,664,256. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $118.07 and a twelve month high of $151.16. The stock has a market cap of $28.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $125.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.33. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.02. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.57% and a net margin of 7.98%. The company had revenue of $4.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.25 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. This is a boost from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PPG. Bank of America lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on PPG Industries from $145.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on PPG Industries from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. KeyCorp decreased their price target 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.08.

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.