RPM International Inc. (NYSE:RPM) Short Interest Update

RPM International Inc. (NYSE:RPM) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,440,000 shares, a growth of 19.0% from the February 13th total of 1,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 659,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

RPM International Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of RPM stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $115.75. 639,103 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 615,312. RPM International has a fifty-two week low of $103.69 and a fifty-two week high of $141.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.23. The company has a market capitalization of $14.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.55.

RPM International (NYSE:RPM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.05. RPM International had a return on equity of 26.76% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that RPM International will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

RPM International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. RPM International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RPM International

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in RPM International by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,735,940 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $336,198,000 after buying an additional 79,256 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in RPM International by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,430,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $176,034,000 after buying an additional 87,540 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in RPM International by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 606,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $74,607,000 after buying an additional 4,536 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in RPM International by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 509,601 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,712,000 after buying an additional 15,602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in RPM International by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 305,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,577,000 after buying an additional 12,579 shares during the last quarter. 80.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of RPM International from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of RPM International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of RPM International from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI raised shares of RPM International to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of RPM International from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, RPM International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.00.

RPM International Company Profile

RPM International Inc manufactures and sells specialty chemicals for the industrial, specialty, and consumer markets worldwide. It offers waterproofing, coating, and traditional roofing systems; sealants, air barriers, tapes, and foams; residential home weatherization systems; roofing and building maintenance services; sealing and bonding, subfloor preparation, flooring, and glazing solutions; resin flooring systems, polyurethane, MMA waterproof, epoxy floor paint and coatings, concrete repair, and protection products; fire stopping and intumescent steel coating, and manufacturing industry solutions; rolled asphalt roofing materials and chemical admixtures; concrete and masonry admixtures, concrete fibers, curing and sealing compounds, structural grouts and mortars, epoxy adhesives, injection resins, polyurethane foams, floor hardeners and toppings, joint fillers, industrial and architectural coatings, decorative color/stains/stamps, and restoration materials; insulated building cladding materials; and concrete form wall systems.