Heartland Advisors Inc. Buys 3,092 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its stake in PPG Industries by 2.6% during the first quarter, owning 121,610 shares valued at approximately $13.3 million.
• Several analysts have updated their ratings on PPG Industries, with Bank of America setting a target price at $126, while Deutsche Bank raised it to $140, indicating a mix of outlooks on the stock.
• PPG Industries recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.71 per share, reflecting a positive financial outlook despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 4.3% for the last quarter.

Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 121,610 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,092 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of PPG Industries worth $13,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 456 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 5.5% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 1,881 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 37.1% in the first 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 last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 22.6% in the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 3.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPG Industries Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of PPG stock traded down $1.98 on Monday, reaching $113.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,459,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,061,549. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $25.87 billion, a PE ratio of 24.40, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $113.41 and a 200-day moving average of $111.97. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.24 and a 12 month high of $137.24.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.67 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 6.49%. PPG Industries's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.49%. This is an increase from PPG Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $126.00 price target (down previously from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Fermium Researc raised shares of PPG Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.45.

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.