PPG Industries Inc. (PPG): Today's Featured Chemicals Winner

PPG Industries (PPG) pushed the Chemicals industry higher today making it today's featured chemicals winner. The industry as a whole closed the day down 0.1%. By the end of trading, PPG Industries rose 57 cents (0.5%) to $110.99 on light volume. Throughout the day, 699,485 shares of PPG Industries exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 1.2 million shares. The stock ranged in a price between $110.10-$111.86 after having opened the day at $110.27 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $110.42. Other companies within the Chemicals industry that increased today were: Clean Diesel Technologies (CDTI), up 20%, Lightbridge (LTBR), up 12.4%, PetroLogistics (PDH), up 9.7%, and Pacific Ethanol (PEIX), up 7.2%.

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PPG Industries, Inc. manufactures and supplies protective and decorative coatings. PPG Industries has a market cap of $16.48 billion and is part of the basic materials sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 19.5, above the average chemicals industry P/E ratio of 18.8 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 32.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday. Currently there are 10 analysts that rate PPG Industries a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and four rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates PPG Industries as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, growth in earnings per share, increase in net income and expanding profit margins. Although the company may harbor some minor weaknesses, we feel they are unlikely to have a significant impact on results.

• You can view the full PPG Ratings Report.

On the negative front, Cereplast (CERP), down 16.9%, Altair Nanotechnologies (ALTI), down 8.4%, Ikonics Corporation (IKNX), down 7.2%, and Gevo (GEVO), down 7.1%, were all laggards within the chemicals industry with Dow Chemical (DOW) being today's chemicals industry laggard.

• Use our chemicals section to find industry-relevant news.
• Or find some new ideas from our top rated stocks lists.

For investors not wanting singular stock exposure, ETFs may be of interest. Investors who are bullish on the chemicals industry could consider Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) while those bearish on the chemicals industry could consider ProShares Short Basic Materials Fd (SBM).

• Find other investment ideas from our top rated ETFs lists.

For more information on PPG Industries Inc. click any of the following:

• PPG Industries Inc. Stock Price

• PPG Industries Inc. Analyst Ratings

• PPG Industries Inc. Key Stats & Profile

• PPG Industries Inc. Earnings

• PPG Industries Inc. Ratio Comparison

• PPG Industries Inc. Growth Rates

• PPG Industries Inc. Balance Sheet

• PPG Industries Inc. Cash Flow

• PPG Industries Inc. Income Statement