Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 138,170 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,836,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 138,170 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Sherwin-Williams worth $7,422,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1,000.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 99 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SHW opened at $334.38 on Monday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $282.09 and a 12-month high of $400.42. The company has a market capitalization of $84.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $353.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $364.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 price target (down previously from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.