Enhancing Capital LLC Takes $499,000 Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Enhancing Capital LLC purchased a new stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares during the period. Burney Co. increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,871,000 after buying an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,498,000 after acquiring an additional 4,439 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 117,055 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,676,000 after buying an additional 4,681 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. This trade represents a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

NYSE SHW opened at $342.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $86.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.49, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1-year low of $282.09 and a 1-year high of $400.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $353.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $365.49.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 29.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Citigroup restated 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. Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.13.

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.