Short Interest in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Grows By 8.6%

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,890,000 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the April 15th total of 2,660,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Institutional Trading of Air Products and Chemicals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $376,000. Eos Management L.P. boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Eos Management L.P. now owns 27,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,727 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 65,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,850,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,177,000. Finally, Zenyatta Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Zenyatta Capital Management LP now owns 22,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,024,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $262.70 on Friday. Air Products and Chemicals has a one year low of $212.24 and a one year high of $307.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.15. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 63.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Air Products and Chemicals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $285.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $273.77.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.