Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird upped 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. UBS Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $396.47.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW stock opened at $397.40 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $378.94 and its 200-day moving average is $347.31. The company has a market cap of $100.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Sherwin-Williams has a twelve month low of $272.34 and a twelve month high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.20 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.49%.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,396,349.27. The trade was a 28.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,474,238,000 after acquiring an additional 999,164 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,733,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,799,196,000 after acquiring an additional 58,463 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,921,846 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $573,538,000 after purchasing an additional 53,487 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 917,979 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 18.5% during the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,524,367 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $454,917,000 after buying an additional 238,031 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

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.