The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Increases Dividend to $0.79 Per Share

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.79 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72.

Sherwin-Williams has raised its dividend payment by an average of 9.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 47 consecutive years. Sherwin-Williams has a dividend payout ratio of 21.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Sherwin-Williams to earn $13.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.86 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.5%.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of SHW stock opened at $351.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Sherwin-Williams has a one year low of $282.09 and a one year high of $400.42. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $351.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $365.30. The company has a market capitalization of $88.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.22.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on SHW shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.00.

Sherwin-Williams Company 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.