Verity & Verity LLC Purchases 178 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Verity & Verity LLC grew its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,383 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective (down from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.29.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In related news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total value of $249,713.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,692,513.20. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.5 %

PPG opened at $120.14 on Friday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.00 and a twelve month high of $145.86. The firm has a market cap of $27.87 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $121.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.83.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.15 by ($0.02). PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 8.24%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.11%.

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.