Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 20,226 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 137.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,226 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in PPG Industries were worth $5,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,997 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 281,835 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $42,148,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Optas LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $277,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,956 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPG Industries Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE PPG traded up $1.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $134.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,734,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,725,501. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.28. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $140.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.93. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.32 and a 1 year high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.04. PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.96% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The company had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded PPG Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Vertical Research raised shares of PPG Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays lowered PPG Industries from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $163.00 to $149.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPG Industries presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $158.40.

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.