Central Bank & Trust Co. Increases Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 47.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,127 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $470,535,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 482.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,337,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $518,132,000 after buying an additional 3,592,655 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 815.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $381,876,000 after buying an additional 1,858,895 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,590,041 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn cut PPG Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $126.00 target price (down previously from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Fermium Researc raised shares of PPG Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $128.42.

PPG Industries Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE PPG traded down $1.98 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $113.06. 1,942,344 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,823,683. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.72. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.24 and a twelve 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 the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.10. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. PPG Industries's payout ratio is currently 58.24%.

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.