Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Invests $210,000 in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,402 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PPG. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,712 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:PPG traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $134.21. 1,128,571 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,777,701. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.55. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.32 and a 52-week high of $152.89. The company has a market capitalization of $31.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PPG. Wells Fargo & Company raised PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPG Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.