ProShare Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 772,042 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,623 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.30% of Sherwin-Williams worth $204,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 4.9% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 6,506 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the second quarter worth about $355,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.5% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 160,299 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.1% in the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 55,196 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $14,656,000 after acquiring an additional 8,472 shares during the period. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 60.8% in the second quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 5,572 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 2,106 shares during the period. 75.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

SHW stock traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $270.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,104,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,623,187. The stock has a market cap of $69.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $205.43 and a fifty-two week high of $283.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $252.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.46.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.43. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.50% and a return on equity of 78.92%. The company had revenue of $6.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. Equities research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 10.3 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be paid a $0.605 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $2.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SHW. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John G. Morikis purchased 2,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $237.60 per share, with a total value of $504,900.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,383,352. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Profile

The Sherwin-Williams Company engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coating, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. It operates through three segments: The Americas Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group. The Americas Group segment offers architectural paints and coatings, and protective and marine products, as well as OEM product finishes and related products for architectural and industrial paint contractors, and do-it-yourself homeowners.