The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,365 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,139 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $13,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SHW. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 44,853.3% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 6,728 shares in the last quarter. Lee Financial Co acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $313.97 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $328.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $296.45. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $221.76 and a 52 week high of $348.37. The company has a market capitalization of $79.89 billion, a PE ratio of 33.94, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.01. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 74.72%. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SHW shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $346.00 to $341.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.50.

Sherwin-Williams 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.