The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $402.25.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total value of $971,185.95. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,396,349.27. This represents a 28.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SHW. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 87 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,560 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, First Interstate Bank boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 1,466 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 0.9 %

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $337.31 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $368.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $357.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Sherwin-Williams has a fifty-two week low of $282.09 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.19). Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.45% and a net margin of 11.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.49%.

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.