Short Interest in RPM International Inc. (NYSE:RPM) Increases By 19.0%

RPM International Inc. (NYSE:RPM) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,440,000 shares, an increase 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 presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on RPM. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of RPM International to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of RPM International from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $134.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of RPM International from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho dropped 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 issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.00.

RPM International Price Performance

Shares of RPM stock traded down $0.56 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $115.57. The company had a trading volume of 628,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 614,592. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $122.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.00. RPM International has a 52 week low of $103.69 and a 52 week high of $141.79.

RPM International (NYSE:RPM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.79 billion. RPM International had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 26.76%. RPM International’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that RPM International will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RPM International Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. RPM International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in RPM International by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in RPM International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in RPM International by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 419 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its position in RPM International by 829.8% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 437 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in 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 valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 80.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.