D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Acquires 238,031 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,524,367 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 238,031 shares during the period. Sherwin-Williams makes up approximately 0.4% of D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $454,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SHW. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,840,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,197,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,351 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 132.8% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,609,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $480,291,000 after acquiring an additional 917,979 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 610.0% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,045,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $311,971,000 after acquiring an additional 898,143 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the second quarter worth approximately $169,770,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 8,986.8% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 534,121 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $166,592,000 after acquiring an additional 528,243 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW stock opened at $381.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $96.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.17. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $232.06 and a twelve month high of $383.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $356.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $328.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.29 EPS. Sherwin-Williams’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up from $386.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $23,301,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Company 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.