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

RPM International Inc. (NYSE:RPM) saw a large 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 currently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 10,185 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in RPM International during the 4th quarter valued at $308,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in RPM International during the 4th quarter valued at $686,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in RPM International during the 4th quarter valued at $312,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in RPM International by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 261,835 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.95% of the company’s stock.

RPM International Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE RPM traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $115.57. The stock had a trading volume of 628,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 614,592. The firm has a market cap 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 twelve month low of $103.69 and a twelve month 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’s 50 day moving average price is $122.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.63.

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

RPM International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. RPM International’s payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of RPM International from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $134.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of RPM International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of RPM International from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.