New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 222,228 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 30,600 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.09% of PPG Industries worth $33,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.0% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $526,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its position 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 valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PPG shares. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Vertical Research raised shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered shares of PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.47.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPG Industries Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $129.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $139.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.85. The company has a market cap of $30.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.32 and a 52-week high of $152.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.55.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.92%.

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

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.