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

RPM International (NYSE:RPM) was upgraded by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $140.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $134.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 15.03% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on RPM International from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $149.00 price objective (up previously from $139.00) on shares of RPM International in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of RPM International from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RPM International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on RPM International from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.60.

RPM International Price Performance

RPM stock opened at $121.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.13. The stock has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.02. RPM International has a one year low of $103.63 and a one year high of $141.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.26 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

RPM International (NYSE:RPM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that RPM International will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at RPM International

In other news, Director Frederick R. Nance sold 594 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.47, for a total value of $80,469.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,526 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,017.22. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Laroche sold 3,615 shares of RPM International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.14, for a total value of $459,611.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,596 shares in the company, valued at $1,474,315.44. This represents a 23.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,927 shares of company stock worth $1,037,214 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RPM International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RPM. Pensionfund Sabic purchased a new position in RPM International during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,354,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of RPM International by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of RPM International during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,295,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of RPM International by 33.0% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 16,384 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 4,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $320,851,000 after buying an additional 145,070 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.