Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $3.36 Million in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 11,257 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,359,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 13,980 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,360,000 after purchasing an additional 2,164 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 432,236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $134,897,000 after purchasing an additional 66,874 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,403 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 425,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $132,659,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 385,920 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $120,368,000 after acquiring an additional 2,601 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total transaction of $5,326,371.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,301,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $381.85 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $232.06 and a 52 week high of $382.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $355.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $328.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.17.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $6.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.33 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 75.58% and a net margin of 10.92%. The firm’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.29 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SHW. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $386.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $362.68.

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.