Invesco Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has reduced its stake in PPG Industries by 24.4%, selling over 1.15 million shares and now holding approximately 3.57 million shares valued at about $390.77 million.
• Analysts have given mixed ratings for PPG Industries, with target prices ranging from $115 to $135, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $129.82.
• PPG Industries has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.71 per share, up from the previous dividend of $0.68, indicating a positive financial outlook.

Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 24.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,573,619 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 1,153,011 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.57% of PPG Industries worth $390,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PPG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,078 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 13,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 4,829 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $939,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on PPG Industries from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on PPG Industries from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on PPG Industries from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Fermium Researc upgraded PPG Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $129.82.

PPG Industries Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of PPG stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $111.84. The company had a trading volume of 1,400,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,240,021. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.42. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.24 and a twelve month high of $137.24. The company has a market capitalization of $25.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.17. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $112.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.86.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.85% and a net margin of 6.25%. The business had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. 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 yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.40%.

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.