Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC Buys New Shares in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 366 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 465.1% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in PPG Industries during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp cut PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.23.

PPG Industries Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of PPG opened at $120.14 on Tuesday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $113.00 and a one year high of $145.86. The company has a market cap of $27.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.24. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.80.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total transaction of $249,713.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,692,513.20. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.56% 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.