Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Acquires 1,019 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,779 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $2,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in PPG Industries by 588.5% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of PPG Industries stock traded up $0.93 on Friday, hitting $130.16. 1,370,846 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,730,382. The company has a market cap of $30.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $139.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. PPG Industries’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

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

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.92%.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PPG. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Vertical Research upgraded PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.47.

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.