Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 200 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Essex Financial Services Inc. reduced its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,566 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Regents Gate Capital LLP purchased a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $2,897,000. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,779 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 13,432 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in PPG Industries by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $949,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $144.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.46.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.7 %

PPG opened at $114.91 on Wednesday. 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 moving average is $119.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.73. The company has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.23. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.20 and a 52 week high of $145.60.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. Analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.96 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

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.