Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Rating Lowered to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $365.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $410.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.63% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on SHW. UBS Group cut their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $420.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Citigroup cut their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $390.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Vertical Research raised Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $371.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.77.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW opened at $335.99 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $340.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $338.72. The company has a market capitalization of $83.11 billion, a PE ratio of 32.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.27. Sherwin-Williams has a 1 year low of $301.58 and a 1 year high of $379.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.50, for a total transaction of $1,069,872.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,928,717.50. This trade represents a 35.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,237,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,529,752,000 after buying an additional 600,119 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,638,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,067,497,000 after buying an additional 364,832 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,231,615 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,687,498,000 after buying an additional 37,145 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 9.9% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,887,808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,334,918,000 after buying an additional 351,453 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.3% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,432,977 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,188,698,000 after buying an additional 11,560 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.