Aigen Investment Management LP Increases Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 181.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,163 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 7,201 shares during the quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP's holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $554,685,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,294,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $427,580,000 after acquiring an additional 959,849 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in PPG Industries by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,102,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $402,718,000 after acquiring an additional 341,977 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 5.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,374,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $308,157,000 after acquiring an additional 117,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,839,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $270,876,000 after purchasing an additional 496,998 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPG. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Evercore ISI cut PPG Industries from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $152.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $155.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish bought 2,061 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $133.24 per share, with a total value of $274,607.64. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish purchased 2,061 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $133.24 per share, with a total value of $274,607.64. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,774,388.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PPG Industries Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of PPG traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $133.75. 989,369 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,708,094. The company has a market cap of $31.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.86. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.92%.

PPG Industries declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries 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.