First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,525 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $2,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,435,960 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,685,876,000 after acquiring an additional 179,274 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,063,957 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,291,563,000 after acquiring an additional 75,571 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,840,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,197,952,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,351 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth $1,176,356,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,779,294 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $866,862,000 after buying an additional 116,647 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $395.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $377.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.41.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $297.22 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $304.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $313.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $232.06 and a 52 week high of $348.37.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 73.74%. Sherwin-Williams’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 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.