Flputnam Investment Management Co. Has $16.67 Million Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,040 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $16,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SHW. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,498,000 after buying an additional 4,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $403.31.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of SHW stock opened at $362.46 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $351.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $365.65. The stock has a market cap of $91.16 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $282.09 and a 52-week high of $400.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 29.95%.

About Sherwin-Williams

The Sherwin-Williams Company engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coating, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. It operates through three segments: Paint Stores Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group.