Hedge Funds Are Betting On PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Is PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) an outstanding investment today? Investors who are in the know are becoming more confident. The number of long hedge fund bets moved up by 1 lately.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of metrics shareholders can use to analyze their holdings. A duo of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).

PPG Industries, Inc.

Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the world of equities. There are a number of motivations for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if you understand what to do (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a glance at the latest action regarding PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG).

How have hedgies been trading PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 32 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 3% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management had the largest position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG), worth close to $172 million, accounting for 1.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Sean Cullinan of Point State Capital, with a $147 million position; the fund has 2.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Michael Karsch’s Karsch Capital Management, Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital and Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital.

As one would reasonably expect, key money managers have jumped into PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) headfirst. Point State Capital, managed by Sean Cullinan, established the most valuable position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG). Point State Capital had 147 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Michael Karsch’s Karsch Capital Management also initiated a $128 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital, Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors, and Nancy Havens-Hasty’s Havens Advisors.

How are insiders trading PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns demonstrated by our strategies, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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