Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Sets New 52-Week High at $383.00

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $383.00 and last traded at $382.06, with a volume of 419953 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $381.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $344.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $418.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.68.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.92 billion, a PE ratio of 40.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $355.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $328.48.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.33 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 75.58% and a net margin of 10.92%. Sherwin-Williams’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.29 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 30.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the firm’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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% during 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 buying an additional 1,075,351 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 132.8% in 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 last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 610.0% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,045,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $311,971,000 after purchasing an additional 898,143 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the second quarter worth $169,770,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 8,986.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 528,243 shares during the period. 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.