Morgan Stanley Increases Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Price Target to $450.00

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 15.87% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $383.35.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $388.36 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $97.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $370.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $333.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. Sherwin-Williams has a 12-month low of $232.06 and a 12-month high of $392.57.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

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 stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total value of $5,326,371.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,301,041.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SHW. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,296 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,548,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 1,606 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 4.5% in the second quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,403 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1.3% during the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% 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.