PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

PPG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp lowered PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.25.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG traded down $3.39 during trading on Monday, hitting $111.99. The stock had a trading volume of 3,221,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,237,601. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $121.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.33. PPG Industries has a one year low of $110.20 and a one year high of $145.60. The firm has a market cap of $25.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.24.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that PPG Industries will post 7.9 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPG Industries

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 465.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.