Values First Advisors Inc. Raises Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 66.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,823 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 238 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 24.9% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 211 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 11.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 45,997 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,556,000 after acquiring an additional 4,770 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 117,055 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,676,000 after purchasing an additional 4,681 shares during the period. Finally, Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter worth about $201,000. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total value of $971,185.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,396,349.27. The trade was a 28.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total value of $6,275,198.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SHW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Zelman & Associates upgraded Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, UBS Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $400.00.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $355.38 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock has a market cap of $89.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $354.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $365.19. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $282.09 and a 52 week high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.81 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams 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.