Blair William & Co. IL Increases Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,740 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $14,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at $32,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 99 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (down previously from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.13.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $339.77 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $282.09 and a 1 year high of $400.42. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $353.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $363.91. The company has a market capitalization of $85.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.95%.

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.