Lincoln National Corp Sells 199 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Lincoln National Corp cut its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 199 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PPG. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 41.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,294,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $427,580,000 after purchasing an additional 959,849 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in PPG Industries by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,102,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $402,718,000 after acquiring an additional 341,977 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 5.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,374,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $308,157,000 after acquiring an additional 117,526 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,342,002 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $174,192,000 after buying an additional 9,530 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,041,804 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $154,219,000 after purchasing an additional 149,387 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PPG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target 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 upped their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays cut their price target on PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG Industries stock traded down $0.95 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $133.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 210,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,759,266. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $137.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.15. The company has a market capitalization of $31.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.32 and a 12-month high of $152.89.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 1.95%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.92%.

PPG Industries declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.