Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $177.43 Million Stock Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company $SHW

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 424.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 547,583 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 443,119 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.22% of Sherwin-Williams worth $177,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth $2,655,000. Independence Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at $252,000. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 3,481 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 296.7% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,908 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 3.5%

SHW opened at $314.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $301.58 and a 12 month high of $379.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $348.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $342.08.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 65.26% and a net margin of 10.90%.The company’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, research 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 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 31.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was 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 owned 10,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,661,101.15. This represents a 20.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.50, for a total transaction of $1,069,872.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,928,717.50. This represents a 35.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $371.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Vertical Research upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $371.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $384.43.

Sherwin-Williams 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.