Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 290,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,408 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of PPG Industries worth $34,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in PPG Industries by 4.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,552,100,000 after purchasing an additional 491,774 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in PPG Industries by 5.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,189,095,000 after purchasing an additional 485,597 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in PPG Industries by 5.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,136,570 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $403,049,000 after purchasing an additional 170,339 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in PPG Industries by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,571,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $340,654,000 after purchasing an additional 15,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 2.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,877,170 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $248,650,000 after buying an additional 36,047 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PPG. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $144.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp cut PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG Industries stock opened at $114.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $118.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.22. 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 stock has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.23. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $110.20 and a fifty-two week high of $145.60.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. As a group, analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

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.