Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $1.34 Billion Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company $SHW

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,869,751 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 333,280 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 1.56% of Sherwin-Williams worth $1,339,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 47.2% in the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,881,091 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $997,607,000 after buying an additional 923,341 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 65,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $22,557,000 after acquiring an additional 4,804 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 151.3% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 73,466 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,438,000 after buying an additional 44,230 shares during the period. SummitTX Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,509,000. Finally, Credit Agricole S A bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth $4,254,000. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $390.00 price target on Sherwin-Williams and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.47, for a total transaction of $915,913.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,661,101.15. The trade was a 20.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.50, for a total value of $1,069,872.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of SHW opened at $319.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $308.84 and a twelve month high of $379.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $352.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $344.38.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 31.16%.

Sherwin-Williams Company Profile

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.