Analysts Set The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Price Target at $388.21

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $388.2143.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SHW. Zacks Research cut Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.6%

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $317.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $352.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $344.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.87. Sherwin-Williams has a 52 week low of $308.84 and a 52 week high of $379.65.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.07. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 65.26% and a net margin of 10.90%.The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.50, for a total value of $1,069,872.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,928,717.50. The trade was a 35.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.47, for a total value of $915,913.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,661,101.15. This represents a 20.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 73.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,545 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 11.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,178,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 13.8% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,514 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,207,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 27.1% in the second quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 3,761 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the period. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% during the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 4,478 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,538,000 after buying an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

About Sherwin-Williams

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) is a global manufacturer and distributor of paints, coatings and related products. Founded in 1866 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the company supplies a broad range of coatings for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Its product offering includes architectural paints and stains, industrial and protective coatings, automotive finishes, and a variety of sundry products such as primers, sealants and specialty treatments used by professionals and consumers.

The company sells through multiple channels, including a large network of company-operated retail paint stores that serve professional contractors and do-it-yourself consumers, as well as through distributors and mass retailers.