Blair William & Co. IL Increases Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 3,740 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $14,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,047,174 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $399,675,000 after purchasing an additional 10,709 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 960 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 7,428 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,835,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 6.7% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 5,978 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,282,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SHW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.13.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 1.7 %

SHW stock opened at $339.77 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $282.09 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $353.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $363.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 29.95%.

Sherwin-Williams Company 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.