PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) CEO Timothy M. Knavish Acquires 2,061 Shares

PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) CEO Timothy M. Knavish bought 2,061 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $133.24 per share, for a total transaction of $274,607.64. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPG opened at $135.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $137.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $31.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.32 and a 12 month high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.92%.

Institutional Trading of PPG Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,480,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,661,083,000 after buying an additional 3,600,558 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $554,685,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,294,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $427,580,000 after purchasing an additional 959,849 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 12.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,102,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $402,718,000 after buying an additional 341,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its position in PPG Industries by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,659,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $397,799,000 after purchasing an additional 81,200 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on PPG shares. StockNews.com raised PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.47.

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.