Suncoast Equity Management Has $4.45 Million Stock Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Suncoast Equity Management lifted its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,099 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the quarter. Sherwin-Williams makes up about 0.5% of Suncoast Equity Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $4,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SHW. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 87 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on SHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Zelman & Associates raised Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $400.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at $11,621,253.60. The trade was a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $349.85 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a one year low of $282.09 and a one year high of $400.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $351.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $365.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.16, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.22.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.11%.

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.