PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Receives “Neutral” Rating from Bank of America

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Bank of America in a research note issued on Tuesday. They currently have a $126.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 25.71% from the stock’s previous close.

PPG has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.31.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG stock traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $100.23. The company had a trading volume of 60,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,790,786. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.75. PPG Industries has a 12-month low of $90.24 and a 12-month high of $137.24. The company has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $470,535,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 482.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,337,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $518,132,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592,655 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 815.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,031,164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $362,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700,018 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,196,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $381,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in PPG Industries by 17.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

About PPG Industries

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.