PPG & NRG's Deal to Cut Carbon Emissions by 9,400 MT Yearly
PPG Industries Inc. PPG recently announced an agreement with NRG Energy Inc. brand Direct Energy, allowing it to reduce the carbon footprint of four PPG paints and coatings manufacturing facilities and 62 PPG Paints stores in Texas.
Per the Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse gas (GHG) equivalencies calculator, the move is expected to reduce PPG's total GHG emissions by more than 9,400 metric tons (MT) annually. This is the equivalent of powering 2,092 traditional combustion engine vehicles for one year, each driving 11,000 miles.
PPG's Gainesville, Temple, Dallas and Grand Prairie manufacturing facilities, as well as 62 PPG Paints stores in Texas, will purchase Renewable Energy Certificates generated by a wind facility in Crockett County, TX, as a result of the agreement with Direct Energy. This is expected to help reduce emissions associated with their annual power usage. The arrangement covers about 126,000 megawatt hours (MWh).
Earlier, PPG announced a power purchase deal with energy firm Constellation for its Adrian, MI, facility, which is likely to help it reduce its carbon footprint by more than 2,400 metric tons per year. Its Carrollton, TX, plant is also powered with clean, renewable energy from the 200 MW Big Star Solar Project as part of an agreement with Constellation.
Shares of PPG have gained 25.4% over the past year compared with a 13.4% rise of its industry.
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The company, on its first-quarter earnings call, noted that it expects adjusted earnings of $6.95-$7.25 per share for 2023. The prediction excludes amortization expense, non-cash pension settlement charge, benefit from insurance recovery and costs related to earlier approved and communicated business restructuring.
Factoring in current global economic activities, geopolitical issues in Europe and higher interest rates in most developed countries, PPG expects sales volumes for second-quarter 2023 to be flat with the potential for slight improvement or decrease of a low single-digit percentage year over year. Adjusted earnings for the second quarter are projected in the band of $2.05-$2.15.
PPG Industries, Inc. Price and Consensus
PPG Industries, Inc. price-consensus-chart | PPG Industries, Inc. Quote
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
PPG currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Better-ranked stocks to consider in the basic materials space include Koppers Holdings Inc. KOP, Silvercorp Metals Inc. SVM and Linde plc LIN. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Koppers currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings for KOP is currently pegged at $4.40, implying year-over-year growth of 6.3%. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 13.64%, on average. The stock has gained around 44.4% in a year.
Silvercorp Metals currently carries a Zacks Rank #1. The consensus estimate for current fiscal-year earnings for Silvercorp is currently pegged at 27 cents, suggesting year-over-year growth of 28.6%. The stock has gained roughly 5.7% in the past year.
Linde currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LIN’s current-year earnings has been revised 3.8% upward in the past 60 days. Linde beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters. It delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.9% on average. The stock has gained roughly 28.7% in the past year.
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