Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Lowers Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company $SHW

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC decreased its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,314 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,044 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $3,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 73.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,545 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 11.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,178,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the second quarter worth about $1,210,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 43.6% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 196,915 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $67,612,000 after buying an additional 59,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 4.8% during the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 3,249 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $333.56 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $82.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $339.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $338.58. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $301.58 and a 12-month high of $379.65.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced 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 company had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 65.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company 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 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 of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $410.00 to $365.00 in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $371.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $379.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of the business’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 value of $1,069,872.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,928,717.50. The trade was a 35.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 approximately $3,661,101.15. This represents a 20.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.