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PPG Industries to Showcase Coatings at Frame Building Expo

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PPG Industries (PPG - Free Report) will showcase its coatings products including Duranar, Durastar and Duraform at the 2017 Frame Building Expo in Nashville, TN, from March 8-10. These products have been designed to meet a vast range of performance and budget demands.

The products to be featured include the Duranar 70-percent polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) coatings that have a five decades of track record of providing exceptional colorfastness and gloss retention on buildings, even in harsh agricultural and industrial environments. Moreover, Duranar Ultra-Cool and color-shifting Duranar Vari-Cool coatings leverages PPG’s exclusive infrared-reflective pigment technology in a variety of colors that meet cool roof performance criteria.

In addition, Durastar Ultra-Cool coatings provide exterior durability, necessary for agricultural, industrial, commercial and residential metal roofing and sidewall panels. Duraform coatings feature a hyper-branch polymer developed by the company to protect and beautify downspouts, flagpoles, metal fencing, metal doors and similar components.

PPG Industries has underperformed the Zacks categorized Chemicals-Diversified industry over the past three months, affected by weak growth in global demand for its products amid a challenging global operating environment. The company’s shares have gained around 5.3% compared with the roughly 9.3% gain recorded by the industry over the same timeframe.



The company’s Industrial Coatings unit recorded sales of $1.44 billion in fourth-quarter 2016, up almost 5% from the prior-year period. Total sales volume improved by almost 5%, led by high growth in the emerging markets.

However, net income for the segment fell around 2% year over year to $236 million, largely due to higher transportation and logistics costs along with unfavorable currency translation, which more than offset growth in sales volume and continued lower costs from restructuring and manufacturing cost efficiencies as well as acquisition-related income.

PPG Industries has a diversified business, both in terms of products offered and geographical presence. The company’s strong presence in emerging regions has enabled it to deliver growth to shareholders by tapping opportunities there. PPG Industries is also taking initiatives to expand its business through acquisitions.

PPG Industries has announced certain restructuring measures to lower its cost structure globally. Special emphasis will be put on regions and end-use markets with the weakest business. The restructuring actions are expected to deliver $120–$130 million in annual savings, with $40–$50 million of savings expected to be realized in 2017.

PPG Industries also has an impressive record of returning cash to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. The company returned nearly $1.5 billion to its shareholders in the form of dividend and share repurchases in 2016. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 11% in 2016. The company anticipates deploying $2.5–$3.5 billion cash in acquisitions and share repurchases for 2017 and 2018 combined.

However, PPG Industries is exposed to unfavorable currency exchange translation, especially in the emerging markets. The company also continues to face macroeconomic challenges. The company sees an uneven growth in emerging economies in 2017. It is also exposed to volatility in raw materials and energy costs.
 

PPG Industries, Inc. Price and Consensus

PPG Industries currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Other Stocks to Consider

Better-ranked companies in the chemical space include The Chemours Company (CC - Free Report) , Methanex Corp. (MEOH - Free Report) and Albermale Corp. (ALB - Free Report) .

Chemours has expected long-term growth of 15.5% and sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Methanex has expected long-term growth of 15% and also flaunts a Zacks Rank #1.

Albemarle has expected long-term growth of 10% and carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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