PPG Industries, Inc. $PPG Shares Sold by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

Key Points

• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. has reduced its stake in PPG Industries by 62.7%, selling 287,803 shares and now owning about 0.08% of the company valued at $18.69 million.
• PPG Industries reported a net margin of 6.25% and quarterly revenue of $4.20 billion, slightly above analyst estimates, but down 0.9% year-over-year.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.68 to $0.71, representing an annualized yield of 2.5% and a payout ratio of 64.40%.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. lowered its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 62.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 170,922 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 287,803 shares during the period. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. owned 0.08% of PPG Industries worth $18,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 1.9% in the first quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 4,862 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Conning Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 37.1% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 373 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 22.6% during the first quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 576 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on PPG Industries from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on PPG Industries from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on PPG Industries from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on PPG Industries from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.82.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:PPG traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $111.84. 1,400,249 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,050,681. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.69. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.24 and a 52 week high of $137.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.17.

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

PPG Industries Increases Dividend

The business 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 a positive change from PPG Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.40%.

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.