PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Holdings Reduced by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 1.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,736 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 171 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in PPG Industries were worth $2,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in PPG Industries during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in PPG Industries in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PPG shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $139.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $148.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on PPG Industries from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.08.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG stock opened at $126.50 on Friday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $118.07 and a one year high of $151.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $125.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $130.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.02. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 23.57%. The business had revenue of $4.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.25 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This is an increase from PPG Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

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.