First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 78,138 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,827 shares during the period. PPG Industries makes up approximately 2.6% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $11,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in PPG Industries by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.0% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $526,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,712 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE PPG opened at $130.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.86. The firm has a market cap of $30.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $120.32 and a one year high of $152.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.55.

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

PPG Industries announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’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 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PPG shares. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.47.

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.