BKM Wealth Management LLC Acquires 773 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

BKM Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 21.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,349 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 773 shares during the quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $554,685,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in PPG Industries by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,480,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,661,083,000 after buying an additional 3,600,558 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in PPG Industries by 4,484.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 723,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $108,228,000 after buying an additional 707,903 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $74,492,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in PPG Industries by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,839,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $270,876,000 after buying an additional 496,998 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish acquired 2,061 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $133.24 per share, for a total transaction of $274,607.64. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of PPG Industries stock traded down $1.64 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $124.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 353,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,665,273. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.33. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $120.32 and a one year high of $152.89. The company has a market capitalization of $29.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.26.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The business 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on PPG shares. Citigroup decreased 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 note on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

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.