RPM International Inc. (NYSE:RPM) Short Interest Up 19.0% in February

RPM International Inc. (NYSE:RPM) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during 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 volume of 659,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

RPM International Trading Down 0.4 %

RPM traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $115.38. The stock had a trading volume of 107,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 613,259. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.76 and its 200-day simple moving average 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

RPM International (NYSE:RPM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.79 billion. RPM International had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 26.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that RPM International will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RPM International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. RPM International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of RPM International from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI raised shares of RPM International to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of RPM International from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of RPM International from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RPM International

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of RPM International by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of RPM International during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of RPM International by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 419 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of RPM International by 829.8% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 437 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of RPM International by 148.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 535 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.95% of the company’s stock.

About RPM International

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.