Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 32.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,383 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,645 shares during the quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 465.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus downgraded PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Trading Down 0.4 %

PPG stock opened at $113.11 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.15 and a 1-year high of $145.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.98.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS 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%. Research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

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.