State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $18.68 Million Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 124,912 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,650 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.05% of PPG Industries worth $18,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 588.5% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on PPG shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.47.

PPG Industries Price Performance

NYSE:PPG traded down $1.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $129.23. 1,763,993 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,793,761. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $139.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.91. The company has a market cap of $30.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.32 and a 12-month high of $152.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. PPG Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

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 $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company 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.