Curran Financial Partners LLC Has $2.74 Million Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Curran Financial Partners LLC cut its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 33.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,492 shares during the quarter. Sherwin-Williams accounts for 1.1% of Curran Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Curran Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $2,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Lee Financial Co acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SHW shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $312.00 to $402.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.94.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total transaction of $586,881.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total transaction of $586,881.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at $4,935,302.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW stock traded up $2.54 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $312.70. The stock had a trading volume of 224,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,387,805. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $328.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $296.92. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $221.76 and a fifty-two week high of $348.37.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.23 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 74.72%. Sherwin-Williams’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

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.