Copley Financial Group Inc. Invests $499,000 in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,308 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% during the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 2,383 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 112,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,536,000 after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 6,936 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,070,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 50.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 13.2% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 5,355 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total value of $6,275,198.40. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. This trade represents a 28.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Sherwin-Williams stock traded down $2.96 during trading on Friday, reaching $363.89. The company had a trading volume of 129,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,636,222. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $379.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $351.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.65 billion, a PE ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.19. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1-year low of $282.09 and a 1-year high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.20 earnings per share. Sherwin-Williams’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $455.00 to $446.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 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. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $396.47.

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.