Is PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) a good investment now? Hedge funds are becoming more confident. The number of long hedge fund positions advanced by 3 recently.
To the average investor, there are tons of gauges market participants can use to analyze stocks. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see just how much).
Equally as important, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of motivations for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if you understand what to do (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a gander at the latest action regarding PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG).
What have hedge funds been doing with PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 39 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 8% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.
According to our comprehensive database, Bain Capital’s Brookside Capital had the biggest position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG), worth close to $206.3 million, comprising 4.5% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Daniel S. Och of OZ Management, with a $162.4 million position; 0.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management, Michael Karsch’s Karsch Capital Management and Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors.
As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds have jumped into PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) headfirst. Brookside Capital, managed by Bain Capital, initiated the most valuable position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG). Brookside Capital had 206.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management also initiated a $162.4 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new PPG positions are Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, James Dinan’s York Capital Management, and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time frame, PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG). These stocks are Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE:WLK), Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ:SIAL), LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB), Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE:WPZ), and Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW). This group of stocks belong to the specialty chemicals industry and their market caps are closest to PPG’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE:WLK) | 29 | 0 | 13 |
| Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ:SIAL) | 15 | 2 | 5 |
| LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) | 64 | 0 | 6 |
| Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE:WPZ) | 9 | 1 | 1 |
| Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) | 32 | 0 | 9 |
With the results exhibited by Insider Monkey’s studies, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) is an important part of this process.
