Smithfield Trust Co Reduces Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Smithfield Trust Co decreased its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 121,931 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,451 shares during the quarter. PPG Industries comprises 0.7% of Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Smithfield Trust Co owned 0.05% of PPG Industries worth $14,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in PPG Industries by 465.1% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the third quarter worth $34,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Down 2.0 %

PPG Industries stock opened at $109.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.15 and a twelve month high of $145.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.93.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.55% of the stock is owned by 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.