Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Lowers Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 80,405 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 7,001 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $12,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 2.0% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish bought 2,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $133.24 per share, for a total transaction of $274,607.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,774,388.92. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:PPG traded down $2.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $127.32. The stock had a trading volume of 1,156,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,382,689. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.54. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.32 and a 12-month high of $152.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $29.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 EPS for the current year.

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

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PPG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.47.

PPG Industries Company 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.