Evercore ISI Lowers PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) to In-Line

Evercore ISI cut shares of PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) from an outperform rating to an in-line rating in a research report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Evercore ISI currently has $152.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays downgraded PPG Industries from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $163.00 to $149.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued an outperform rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, January 19th. One investment 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $155.47.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE PPG opened at $130.52 on Monday. PPG Industries has a 1-year low of $120.32 and a 1-year high of $152.89. The company has a market capitalization of $30.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $139.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PPG Industries will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

Insider Activity 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 transaction of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PPG Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.