Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. Cuts Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 86.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,864 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 17,563 shares during the period. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 13.9% in the first quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 229.2% in the first quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH now owns 3,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,212 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $441,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 2.4% in the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 215,605 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $23,576,000 after purchasing an additional 5,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 5.2% in the first quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 2,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $126.00 price target (down previously from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.45.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG stock traded up $1.04 on Friday, hitting $116.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,280,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,578,672. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $113.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.02. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.24 and a 1 year high of $137.24. The stock has a market cap of $26.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.10. PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 24.84%. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. PPG Industries's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. This is an increase from PPG Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.81%.

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.