PPG Industries, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.65 (NYSE:PPG)

PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of 0.65 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th.

PPG Industries has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 53 years. PPG Industries has a dividend payout ratio of 27.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect PPG Industries to earn $9.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.9%.

PPG Industries Trading Down 3.1 %

PPG stock traded down $4.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $130.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,544,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,770,405. PPG Industries has a 1 year low of $120.32 and a 1 year high of $152.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.28.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 6.96%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that PPG Industries will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 51.9% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,991 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $797,000 after buying an additional 2,048 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 14.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,099,000 after buying an additional 3,025 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $619,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,180,199 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,645,019,000 after buying an additional 252,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 7.1% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 19,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after buying an additional 1,283 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Vertical Research raised PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.00.

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.