Avanza Fonder AB Buys Shares of 2,309 The Sherwin-Williams Company $SHW

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,309 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $748,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,257 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 781 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 1.0% in the third quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 3,275 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Field & Main Bank boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 1.9% in the third quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 1,835 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 2.5%

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $321.62 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $301.58 and a fifty-two week high of $379.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $347.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $341.52. The firm has a market cap of $79.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,513 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,928,717.50. This represents a 35.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SHW. UBS Group set a $420.00 target price on Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, January 30th. Vertical Research upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $371.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $390.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.43.

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.