PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Downgraded by Argus to Hold

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) was downgraded by equities researchers at Argus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on PPG. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:PPG opened at $115.47 on Monday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.75. PPG Industries has a one year low of $109.15 and a one year high of $145.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. As a group, analysts forecast that PPG Industries will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted 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 stake in shares of PPG Industries during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

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.