Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Has $757,000 Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,228 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,836,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,422,932,000 after purchasing an additional 138,170 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% during 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 buying an additional 999,164 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,799,196,000 after buying an additional 58,463 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,171,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $738,261,000 after acquiring an additional 114,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,724,746 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $586,293,000 after acquiring an additional 187,724 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SHW opened at $342.90 on Tuesday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $282.09 and a 52-week high of $400.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $86.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $354.10 and its 200-day moving average is $364.49.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SHW. Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (down previously from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. This trade represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams 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.