The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Shares Sold by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. trimmed its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,513 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 303 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $6,973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% during 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 period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares during the period. Kerusso Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,498,000 after acquiring an additional 4,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SHW shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $423.00 target price (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $403.31.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 1.1 %

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $363.99 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $352.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $365.86. The stock has a market cap of $91.55 billion, a PE ratio of 34.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1-year low of $282.09 and a 1-year high of $400.42. 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 (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were 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 owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.