RPM International (NYSE:RPM) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of RPM International (NYSE:RPM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

RPM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $149.00 target price (up previously from $139.00) on shares of RPM International in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of RPM International from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on RPM International from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on RPM International from $107.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on RPM International from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, RPM International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.70.

RPM International Stock Up 1.1 %

RPM International stock opened at $137.84 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $17.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.99. RPM International has a twelve month low of $100.56 and a twelve month high of $138.26.

RPM International (NYSE:RPM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. RPM International had a return on equity of 26.82% and a net margin of 8.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that RPM International will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

RPM International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This is a boost from RPM International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. RPM International’s payout ratio is currently 42.77%.

Insider Transactions at RPM International

In other news, CAO Michael J. Laroche sold 3,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.14, for a total transaction of $459,611.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,315.44. The trade was a 23.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frederick R. Nance sold 594 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.47, for a total transaction of $80,469.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,155,017.22. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,083 shares of company stock valued at $1,443,549. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RPM International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of RPM International by 9,945.2% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,949,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $209,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,930,072 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in RPM International by 2,975.6% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 200,742 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $24,290,000 after buying an additional 194,215 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of RPM International by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,656,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $320,851,000 after buying an additional 145,070 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of RPM International by 4.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,475,784 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $158,912,000 after buying an additional 61,218 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in shares of RPM International by 166.7% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 68,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,325,000 after acquiring an additional 43,000 shares during the last quarter. 80.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.