abrdn plc Purchases 52,635 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

abrdn plc boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 26.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 252,039 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 52,635 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $37,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,712 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPG Industries Stock Up 0.2 %

PPG opened at $131.13 on Tuesday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $120.32 and a 1-year high of $152.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $30.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.13% and a net margin of 7.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PPG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI downgraded PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.50.

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.