Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires New Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 42,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,062,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PUREfi Wealth LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $279,000. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $868,000. JGP Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $4,050,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,571,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $340,654,000 after buying an additional 15,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $2,944,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG stock opened at $113.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.15 and a 12-month high of $145.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.04.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on PPG shares. StockNews.com cut shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp cut shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries 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.