The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $362.68.

SHW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $386.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total value of $5,326,371.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 63,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,301,041.60. 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 insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sherwin-Williams

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 102.3% in the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 136.4% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 104 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 158.5% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 233.3% during the second quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 0.6 %

SHW opened at $373.97 on Friday. Sherwin-Williams has a 12 month low of $232.06 and a 12 month high of $374.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $94.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $345.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $326.36.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.19. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 75.58% and a net margin of 10.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.49%.

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.