Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,032 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 221 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 164.3% during the 4th quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 12,636 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 7,855 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 68,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,204 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,165 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 120,564 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $14,401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 19,738 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,358,000 after purchasing an additional 9,729 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Trading Down 2.6 %

PPG stock opened at $114.88 on Friday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.20 and a 1-year high of $145.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $26.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.25.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS 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%. Research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp downgraded PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.