Cerity Partners LLC Sells 4,190 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,350 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 4,190 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in PPG Industries were worth $4,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 456 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 1,881 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 373 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 576 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,147 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company's stock.

PPG Industries Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE PPG traded down $1.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $114.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,187,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,868,399. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.24 and a fifty-two week high of $137.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.07.

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

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This is an increase from PPG Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PPG. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $126.00 price target (down from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Fermium Researc upgraded shares of PPG Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine equities research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $131.42.

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.