Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 13,659 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 313,677 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 13,659 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $106,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,271,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,871,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,498,000 after acquiring an additional 4,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,477,000 after acquiring an additional 286,791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 1.7 %

SHW stock opened at $339.77 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $282.09 and a twelve month high of $400.42. The company has a market cap of $85.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $353.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $363.86.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.81 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SHW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.13.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. This 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 available at this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.