Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in PPG Industries by 3.1%, owning approximately 0.06% of the company, valued at $15.67 million after acquiring an additional 4,258 shares in the first quarter.
• PPG Industries reported a quarterly earnings of $2.22 EPS, meeting estimates, with revenue of $4.20 billion, which was slightly above expectations despite a year-over-year decline.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.68 to $0.71 per share, reflecting a 2.7% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 61.68%.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,309 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,258 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of PPG Industries worth $15,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PPG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in PPG Industries by 9.1% during 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. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $9,892,000. Aviva PLC raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 261.6% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 140,641 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $16,800,000 after buying an additional 101,742 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 676.5% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 33,919 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $4,052,000 after purchasing an additional 29,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perennial Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $365,000. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $126.00 price objective (down from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Fermium Researc raised shares of PPG Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $129.82.

PPG Industries Stock Up 0.5%

PPG traded up $0.50 on Monday, hitting $104.94. The company had a trading volume of 2,560,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,046,243. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.24 and a 12-month high of $137.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $112.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.59.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.22 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 firm had revenue of $4.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. PPG Industries's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from PPG Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. PPG Industries's payout ratio is 61.68%.

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.