Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on SHW. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $455.00 to $446.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.47.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 1.3 %

SHW stock opened at $388.30 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $377.13 and a 200-day moving average of $344.36. Sherwin-Williams has a fifty-two week low of $272.34 and a fifty-two week high of $392.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.19). Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.45% and a net margin of 11.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total value of $971,185.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. This represents a 28.84 % 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, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total transaction of $5,326,371.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 63,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,301,041.60. This trade represents a 18.61 % decrease in their position. 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

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,474,238,000 after purchasing an additional 999,164 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 132.8% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,609,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $480,291,000 after buying an additional 917,979 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 610.0% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,045,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $311,971,000 after buying an additional 898,143 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 40,317.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 726,705 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $277,361,000 after buying an additional 724,907 shares during the period. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $169,770,000. Institutional investors 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.