The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Shares Sold by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,823 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 680 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $4,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,474,238,000 after purchasing an additional 999,164 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 41,520.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 479,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $162,987,000 after purchasing an additional 478,320 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1,717.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 326,903 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $124,769,000 after purchasing an additional 308,921 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,477,000 after purchasing an additional 286,791 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 864,558 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $293,889,000 after purchasing an additional 278,242 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SHW. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $403.31.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 2.0 %

SHW stock opened at $362.46 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $91.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G 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’s 50-day moving average price is $351.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $365.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

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

Sherwin-Williams Profile

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.