PPG Industries, Inc. PPG is supported by its robust cash flow from operating activities. It has outdone its last year’s cash flow performance by $223 million, by reporting $594 million in operating cash flow in the first half of 2026. It is expected to continue on this trajectory as its cost reduction and pricing actions keep benefiting the company.
This strong cash flow supported $175 million of share repurchases and $317 million in dividends during the first half, with total shareholder returns of about $235 million in the second quarter.
Structural and restructuring initiatives are lowering the company’s costs, with $75 million in structural cost savings in 2025 and $20 million in the first quarter of 2026, followed by about $15 million in restructuring savings in the second quarter of 2026. Selling prices are also increasing. These actions are supporting margin expansion, particularly in Global Architectural Coatings, where EBITDA margin improved 100 basis points year over year to 19.4%. The resulting improvement in profitability, combined with disciplined capital allocation and lower leverage, is enabling stronger operating cash flow.
PPG returned $1.4 billion to shareholders in 2025 and increased its annual dividend payout for 54 consecutive years. Continued cash generation and disciplined capital deployment should help continue the trend of enhancing shareholder value.
Among its major peers, Sherwin-Williams Company SHW generated a higher net operating cash of $1.49 billion during the first six months of 2026 compared with $1.05 billion in fiscal 2025. Sherwin-Williams has also been actively implementing aggressive cost-control initiatives, optimizing its supply chain and focusing on productivity improvements to boost its cash-generating capacity.
Celanese Corporation CE recorded operating cash inflow of roughly $285 million for the first six months of 2026, down from the previous-year period’s $447 million. Celanese continued to pursue growth by accelerating cost improvements and deleveraging to strengthen cash generation.
The Zacks Rundown for PPG
Shares of PPG have gained 5.5% in the past year against the Zacks Chemical - Specialty industry’s rise of 3.3%.
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From a valuation standpoint, PPG is currently trading at a forward price-to-sales multiple of 1.35, a discount to the industry average of 2.44X. It carries a Value Score of B.
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PPG’s 2026 and 2027 earnings implies a year-over-year rise of 3.96% and 10.48%, respectively. The EPS estimates for 2026 and 2027 has been trending lower over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
PPG stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).