Czech National Bank Boosts Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,239 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,963 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $17,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SHW. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Tamar Securities LLC raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 3.4% during the third quarter. Tamar Securities LLC now owns 48,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,608,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 4.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 117,055 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,676,000 after buying an additional 4,681 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,424,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 4.3% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 98,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,449,000 after buying an additional 4,074 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on SHW. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $336.36 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $366.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $358.81. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $282.09 and a 52 week high of $400.42. The company has a market capitalization of $84.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.19). Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 28.49%.

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.