Mizuho Cuts Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Price Target to $334.00

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) had its price objective reduced by Mizuho from $340.00 to $334.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

SHW has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $380.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $346.00 to $341.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a peer perform rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $337.37.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $306.45 on Wednesday. Sherwin-Williams has a twelve month low of $221.76 and a twelve month high of $348.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $328.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.15.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.05). Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 73.74% and a net margin of 10.52%. The business had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. Sherwin-Williams’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 30.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 $2,029,710.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 47,568 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,132,000 after purchasing an additional 6,639 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at $38,444,000. Machina Capital S.A.S. boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 149.0% in the 3rd quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 9,695 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,473,000 after purchasing an additional 5,801 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,088,000 after purchasing an additional 2,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,517,000. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.