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

RPM International Inc. (NYSE:RPM) was the target of a large 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 trading volume of 659,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RPM. Evercore ISI raised shares of RPM International to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of RPM International from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of RPM International from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of RPM International from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of RPM International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.00.

RPM International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RPM traded up $0.18 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $115.75. 639,103 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 615,312. The company has a market cap of $14.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.00. RPM International has a 1 year low of $103.69 and a 1 year high of $141.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $122.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

RPM International (NYSE:RPM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.05. RPM International had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 26.76%. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that RPM International will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RPM International Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RPM. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of RPM International by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 297,557 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,617,000 after acquiring an additional 10,185 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in RPM International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $308,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in RPM International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $686,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in RPM International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $312,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in RPM International by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 261,835 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,221,000 after buying an additional 1,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.95% of the company’s stock.

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.