Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,590,000 shares, a growth of 37.4% from the September 15th total of 3,340,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,350,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $305.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $291.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.24.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:APD traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $321.17. The company had a trading volume of 127,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,621,041. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $285.62 and a 200 day moving average of $266.45. The company has a market cap of $71.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.82. Air Products and Chemicals has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $324.52.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. Sell-side analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Air Products and Chemicals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,186 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 71,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,200,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 5,080 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 3rd quarter worth about $105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

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.