Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 37.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,839,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 496,998 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $270,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in PPG Industries by 41.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,294,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $427,580,000 after purchasing an additional 959,849 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in PPG Industries by 12.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,102,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $402,718,000 after purchasing an additional 341,977 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in PPG Industries by 5.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,374,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $308,157,000 after purchasing an additional 117,526 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in PPG Industries by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,041,804 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $154,219,000 after purchasing an additional 149,387 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in PPG Industries by 127.8% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 869,375 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $112,845,000 after purchasing an additional 487,677 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PPG shares. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.47.

PPG Industries Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE PPG opened at $133.46 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $137.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.15.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.86. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.