Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 2,995 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. cut its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,297 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,995 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $4,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 465.1% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPG. StockNews.com lowered PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

NYSE:PPG opened at $111.00 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $116.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.50. The firm has a market cap of $25.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $109.15 and a one year high of $145.61.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. Research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

PPG Industries 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.