The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 218.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 127,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,168 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $48,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SHW. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,296 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,548,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,560 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, First Interstate Bank grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 1,466 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $560,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

SHW stock opened at $388.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $97.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.70, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.17. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $264.54 and a 1 year high of $392.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $375.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $340.86.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($0.19). Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total value of $5,326,371.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,301,041.60. The trade was a 18.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.47.

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.