Short Interest in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Decreases By 11.0%

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) saw a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,140,000 shares, a decline of 11.0% from the July 31st total of 3,530,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,610,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Air Products and Chemicals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Security National Bank bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $281.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.40.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

NYSE APD opened at $278.85 on Tuesday. Air Products and Chemicals has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $307.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $61.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $267.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $255.09.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently 63.90%.

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.