PPG Sells Traffic Solutions Business in Australia, New Zealand
PPG Industries Inc. PPG has announced the sale of its Traffic Solutions business in Australia and New Zealand to Geveko Markings, a Swedish pavement markings company. The agreement's financial terms were not disclosed.
PPG is a major manufacturer and supplier of a wide range of traffic safety product solutions under the ENNIS-FLINT by PPG brand. Following the December 2020 acquisition of Ennis-Flint, PPG launched the Traffic Solutions business in January 2021.
A production, quality control and R&D facility in Ingleburn, Australia; a production facility in Dandendong, Australia; sales offices in Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand; and warehouses in Brisbane, Perth, and Auckland, New Zealand are all included in the transaction.
Shares of PPG have gained 14.7% over the past year compared with a 14.8% rise of its industry.
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The company, on its second-quarter call, said that it expects adjusted EPS for the third quarter in the range of $1.85-$1.95. For the full year, the company raised its adjusted EPS projection to the band of $7.28-$7.48. These projections consider various factors such as current global economic activity, soft global industrial production, continued economic uncertainty associated with geopolitical issues in Europe and higher interest rates in most developed countries.
The company expects performance coatings demand in Europe to stabilize at lower levels than the pre-conflict period in Ukraine while raw material and transportation normalize closer to pre-pandemic levels.
For Industrial coatings, PPG anticipates a low single-digit percentage decline in organic sales due to lower global industrial production, except for modest growth in China. Other industrial end-use markets are expected to be soft. However, selling price increases are expected to continue.
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 in the basic materials space include Equinox Gold Corp. EQX, Koppers Holdings Inc. KOP and The Andersons Inc. ANDE.
Equinox has a projected earnings growth rate of 90% for the current year. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Equinox delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 18.1%, on average. The stock is up around 40.8% in a year. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Koppers has a projected earnings growth rate of 7.5% for the current year. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Koppers has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 21.7%, on average. The stock is up around 65.4% in a year.
Andersons currently carries a Zacks Rank #1. The stock has gained roughly 55.1% in the past year. ANDE beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters. It delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 64.4%, on average.
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