Short Interest in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Increases By 15.7%

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,660,000 shares, an increase of 15.7% from the March 31st total of 2,300,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APD. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $376,000. Eos Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Eos Management L.P. now owns 27,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,727 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% during the fourth 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 period. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter valued at $1,177,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the 3rd quarter worth about $501,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Mizuho cut their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $304.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $328.00 to $241.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Bank of America raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $264.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $279.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $276.36.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

APD stock traded up $2.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $238.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,628,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,716,612. The company has a market cap of $52.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $307.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $255.35.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.00 by ($0.18). Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 18.82%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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.