Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Decreases Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI cut its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,934 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,360 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $2,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PPG. State Street Corp increased its stake in PPG Industries by 4.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,552,100,000 after acquiring an additional 491,774 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,189,095,000 after purchasing an additional 485,597 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,136,570 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $403,049,000 after purchasing an additional 170,339 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,648,379 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $316,349,000 after buying an additional 76,626 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in PPG Industries by 2.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,877,170 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $248,650,000 after buying an additional 36,047 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Seaport Res Ptn cut PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG Industries stock opened at $113.61 on Wednesday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $109.15 and a one year high of $145.61. The company has a market capitalization of $25.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.58.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. Research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The sale 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.

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.