Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Increases Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 553.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,300 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PUREfi Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $279,000. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $868,000. Equity Investment Corp grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 7.0% in the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 649,301 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $86,006,000 after purchasing an additional 42,380 shares during the period. JGP Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $4,050,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,571,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $340,654,000 after purchasing an additional 15,161 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PPG opened at $115.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $110.20 and a 12 month high of $145.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $117.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.15. The stock has a market cap of $26.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.23.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. Equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp cut PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. The trade was a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries 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.