PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86, Yahoo Finance reports. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 6.96%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. PPG Industries updated its Q2 guidance to $2.24-$2.52 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $8.34-$8.59 EPS.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG stock traded up $0.15 on Thursday, hitting $135.11. 2,306,736 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,733,252. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $140.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.90. PPG Industries has a one year low of $120.32 and a one year high of $152.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PPG Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PPG. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 163,082.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,157,889 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $522,813,000 after acquiring an additional 4,155,341 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,480,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,661,083,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600,558 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 602,706.2% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,640,291 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $331,994,000 after purchasing an additional 2,639,853 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $318,155,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 280.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,734,894 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $227,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,104 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays cut PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $163.00 to $149.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Friday, January 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.40.

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.