PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Position Raised by Meixler Investment Management Ltd.

Meixler Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,639 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. PPG Industries comprises about 1.3% of Meixler Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Meixler Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PPG. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 41,162 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,343,000 after purchasing an additional 13,290 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 97,996 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,720,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Personal Financial Services raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 1,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Vertical Research raised PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Redburn Atlantic lowered PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, January 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PPG Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG traded up $0.93 during trading on Friday, hitting $130.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,370,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,730,382. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $139.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.32 and a 12 month high of $152.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.