Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 80,373 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 5,454 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in PPG Industries were worth $9,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $470,535,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in PPG Industries by 482.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,337,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $518,132,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592,655 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in PPG Industries by 815.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,031,164 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $362,074,000 after buying an additional 2,700,018 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,196,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $381,876,000 after buying an additional 1,858,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,567,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,262,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590,041 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPG traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $110.71. 3,488,823 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,830,922. The company has a market cap of $25.13 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.24 and a twelve month high of $137.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.35.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.10. PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. PPG Industries's payout ratio is currently 58.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PPG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fermium Researc raised PPG Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $126.00 price objective (down previously from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $128.42.

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.