Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades RPM International (NYSE:RPM) to “Overweight”

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of RPM International (NYSE:RPM) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $140.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $134.00.

RPM has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up previously from $139.00) on shares of RPM International in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on RPM International from $107.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on RPM International from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on RPM International from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.00.

RPM International Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE RPM opened at $120.59 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $131.36 and its 200 day moving average is $123.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. RPM International has a 12 month low of $103.63 and a 12 month high of $141.79. The stock has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.02.

RPM International (NYSE:RPM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. RPM International had a return on equity of 26.82% and a net margin of 8.43%. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that RPM International will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RPM International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. RPM International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Insider Activity at RPM International

In other news, VP Tracy D. Crandall sold 3,718 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.71, for a total value of $497,133.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,040,297.98. This represents a 14.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Laroche sold 3,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.14, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 23.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,927 shares of company stock valued at $1,037,214 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of RPM International

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RPM. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of RPM International by 9,945.2% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,949,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $209,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,930,072 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in RPM International by 2,975.6% during the third 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in RPM International by 5.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,656,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $320,851,000 after buying an additional 145,070 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 43,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, One Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in RPM International by 25.3% during the second quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 101,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $10,954,000 after buying an additional 20,556 shares during the last quarter. 80.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.