Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $8.63 Million Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,244 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $8,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PUREfi Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $279,000. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $868,000. Equity Investment Corp increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 649,301 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $86,006,000 after purchasing an additional 42,380 shares during the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,050,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,571,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $340,654,000 after purchasing an additional 15,161 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:PPG opened at $119.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $118.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.36. The company has a market cap of $27.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $110.20 and a fifty-two week high of $145.60.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp lowered PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $144.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.15.

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.