Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Raises Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 42.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,949 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,569 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $7,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Holderness Investments Co. boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 5,066 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 44,365 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 34,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,767,000 after purchasing an additional 12,082 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,663 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,119,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $423.00 target price (up previously from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

NYSE:SHW opened at $336.01 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a one year low of $282.09 and a one year high of $400.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $84.51 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $353.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $364.83.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share 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 last year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

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.