PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Bought by Ledyard National Bank

Ledyard National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 34.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 588.5% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PPG. KeyCorp lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 is available through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPG traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $130.03. The company had a trading volume of 342,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,759,463. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $120.32 and a twelve month high of $152.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.97.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.92%.

PPG Industries declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.