Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 51,754 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 398,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 51,754 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.17% of PPG Industries worth $47,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PPG. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in PPG Industries by 10.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 36,422 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,824,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the third quarter worth approximately $838,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 56.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 119,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $15,852,000 after purchasing an additional 43,031 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $221,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 21.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,142,045 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $151,276,000 after purchasing an additional 198,353 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus lowered PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.31.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $100.21. The company had a trading volume of 548,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,792,638. The company's 50-day moving average is $110.61 and its 200-day moving average is $118.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.24 and a twelve month high of $137.24.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.