The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $402.25.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $455.00 to $446.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,396,349.27. This trade represents a 28.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,621,253.60. The trade was a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sherwin-Williams

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $694,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Tamar Securities LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tamar Securities LLC now owns 48,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 117,055 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,676,000 after buying an additional 4,681 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,424,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.3% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 98,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,449,000 after buying an additional 4,074 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW opened at $336.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $84.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.22. Sherwin-Williams has a 1 year low of $282.09 and a 1 year high of $400.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $366.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $358.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.19). Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 28.49%.

Sherwin-Williams Company Profile

The Sherwin-Williams Company engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coating, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. It operates through three segments: Paint Stores Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group.