Quantessence Capital LLC Purchases New Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Quantessence Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,808 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,508,210,000 after acquiring an additional 756,937 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,590,041 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,546,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $660,752,000 after purchasing an additional 93,455 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,726,630 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $564,596,000 after purchasing an additional 271,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $470,535,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.3 %

PPG traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $102.84. 411,323 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,773,941. The firm's fifty day moving average is $107.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.98. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.24 and a 1-year high of $137.24. The company has a market cap of $23.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. Equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. PPG Industries's payout ratio is 57.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PPG shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $135.00 to $113.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded PPG Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $126.00 target price (down from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered PPG Industries from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $130.67.

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.