Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 494 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,508,210,000 after acquiring an additional 756,937 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 valued at $1,189,095,000 after purchasing an additional 485,597 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $470,535,000. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 3,338,384 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $398,770,000 after purchasing an additional 10,116 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PPG shares. Mizuho lowered 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:PPG opened at $107.32 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $115.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.23. 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 1 year low of $105.64 and a 1 year high of $145.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.36 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22.

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

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

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.